Brother's Lament

Chapter 14: Day of rest

One thousand years ago

The sounds of the wind whistled in the early morning, the sun still below the horizon but her light played on the edge, the world below was dark as was expected of the countryside the creak of wood and the silent hum of engines was all that could be heard on deck of the war airship The HMS Victory. She and her crew of one hundred and ninety seven souls armed with twenty eight guns, had the mission of intercepting the Lunar Republic warship Archer en route to their main fortress containing a bounty of riches to aid in the war effort.

Sounds of snoring came from below deck as one of the crew members; an Earth pony wearing a Solar empire uniform stepped quietly between the hammocks that contained the majority of the crew who were not on watch he held a dim lantern in his teeth and he wore a bag on his back, this was the parachute that was given to non-Pegasus crewmembers in case any fell over the side of the ship. Going up to the next deck the Earth pony walked among the cannons that armed the ship finding engravings on the side of the cannons that named the weaponry such as ‘Sudden Death’ and ‘Bucking Mare’.

The crew members stepped back onto the top deck making his way to a an hour glass that hung from the roof above, seeing that the top was empty he push it over with his hoof, resetting the timer, the sand beginning to fall once more, looking to the deck above him where the helm stood a bell began to ring, another crew member ringing it to signal the end of the hour as the ship was nearing a wall of clouds that was caused by a morning mist in the autumn season.

The movement on deck was quick and precise as crewmembers moved about, some cooking some breakfast for the watch while the helmstallion steered the ship to avoid any rough winds, the leader of the watch, a lieutenant Pegasus stallion wearing an officers uniform of the Solar empire, stood near the helm as he observed the wall of clouds ahead of them. A younger stallion who was also an officer but of lesser rank than the lieutenant awoke his colleague a young colt of sixteen years of age “Come on wake up we need to look alive” he whispered.

“Starboard bow ahoy!” came a call from the front of the ship where a Pegasus crewman stood as a look out, the Lieutenant made his way to the crewman with a looking glass between his teeth before placing it in his hoof when he arrived “What is it Mister Storm?” The pegasi stallion looked to the lieutenant, saluting him “Thought I heard something, sounded like another bell” The officer’s eyes narrowed before he went bipedal and unfolded the looking glass, placing it to his eye and looking towards the wall of mist moving it across slowly he almost missed a strange shimmer across the surface of the mist, when he went back to take another look it was gone.

Slowly lowering the looking glass the younger stallion officer walked over to him “What do you see?” The Lieutenant frowned before handing the other officer his looking glass, pointing with his hoof “Two points off the starboard bow in the fog bank” The officer placed the looking glass to his eye following the lieutenant’s directions “What was it? Was it another airship?” The lieutenant shook his head “I don’t know what it was” lowering the looking glass the officer looked to the lieutenant “Should we beat to quarters?” the Pegasus Lieutenant looked around him to see the other members of the crew were looking at them with looks of curiosity and concern before he leaned in to the other officer “I can’t be certain” he whispered as the other officer frowned “You are an officer of the watch, you must make a decision.” Seeing the lieutenant’s hesitation the officer turned to the crewmembers raising his voice “We shall beat to quarters!”

The crewmembers moved quickly with a purpose, Earth pony, Pegasus and Unicorn alike, a crew member with a small drum began drumming against it as yells from below decks could be heard as the rest of the crew awoke, multiple Pegasi in red uniform and swords strapped to their waists stepped onto the deck, these were the marines that were used to board enemy vessels if they were called upon.

Bags of gun powder were removed from the armoury, young colts no older than ten who were known as powder carriers whose duties were to bring fresh powder to the guns during a battle were supplied and positioned close to the guns as they were loaded and prepared. The crew preparing the ship for combat moved with a practised precision. A table was cleared of utensils and other items and replaced with a sheet of linen and multiple surgery tools placed on its surface, buckets of sand were also placed inside the room to be poured on the floor to absorb blood as the airships doctor mentally readied himself for the wounded that would be coming down to meet him soon.

The captain of the ship, a tall red stallion with a sabre strapped to his waist known as Warsong stepped out from his quarters below deck as the doors were removed quickly from their hinges as they could prove a hazard in battle, his assistant a unicorn crewmember came to Warsong with his coat as the taller stallion slipped it on “Good morning sir, sighting heavy fog this morning” Warsong stepped onto the deck and made his way to the front of the ship being handed a looking glass by his assistant.

“Where are they?” he asked as he approached the lieutenant “Two points off the starboard bow sir, about a mile distance.” Warsong raised the looking glass to his eye, looking towards the wall of mist “Are you sure lieutenant?” The pegasus officer nodded “Yes sir” Warsong lowered the looking glass for a second before raising it back again “A mare’o’war?” the lieutenant lowered his gaze slightly “I don’t know sir…It was only for a moment I thought a saw a shape” Warsong slowly lowered the looking glass before he turned to the smaller stallions before looking at the younger officer next to the lieutenant “Did you see it?” The officer shook his head before folding the looking glass “Well you did the right thing lieutenant, go to your stations”

The officers left the captain as the first mate of the ship trotted up to Warsong “The deck is yours” The first mate saluted and quickly left to go to his station leaving Warsong to stare at the wall of mist before he unfolded the looking glass once more and looked through it at the position the lieutenant spoke of the bell striking once more to mark the end of another hour.

Lowering the looking glass Warsong turned to walk away until he heard an echo among the wind causing him to turn slowly and raise his looking glass back up to his eye, scanning across the surface of the wall before seeing sudden flashes of light within the fog, lowering the glass quickly Warsong galloped from his position yelling “Down! All hooves down!” loud booming sounds followed after the flashes, Warsong dived down for cover as the crewmembers followed after him, sudden splintering of wood and the whistle of projectiles flew over them as cannon balls flew past them or into the ship’s hull or missed completely to fall towards the ground far below.

“All hooves get to your stations! Damage report!” yelled the first mate as Warsong got up with the crew members, making his way to the railing of the ship he looked towards starboard bow once more raising his looking glass to see another airship drift out of the fog like a ghost, Luna republic markings printed on the side to place its allegiance in the current war, turning from the bow he made his way down the dock, the first mate trotting alongside him “She’s armed with eighteen pounders, we’re going to have to get closer to do any damage, start up the starboard battery” The first mate nodded and went to follow his captains orders “Mister Sunny bring us up with the wind, it’ll speed us up.”

The helms men went to work as below on the gun deck the crew members moved and readied the starboard cannons Warsong turned to see the young colt who was asleep before still down in cover “Stand tall my quarter deck son all of us” he said before looking towards a crew member “Run up the log, engaged Lunar Republic airship at six bells” Warsong walked up onto the upper deck with the helmsman “Straight at them Mister Sunny” Sunny nodded “Straight at them sir”

Below deck the First mate stood with the gun crew “She’s not in range yet! Stand fast till she’s close enough!” another volley of cannon fire came from the enemy airship, cannon balls shot through the hull of the ship, several crew members being injured or killed, the officers yelling at the top of their lungs “Hold your positions! Courage now!” another volley of cannon fire splintered into the air ship “Hold steady!” injured and dead crewmembers were dragged towards the surgery room where the doctor was already hard at work on the first injuries and casualties of the fight blood pouring freely onto the floor “Pour more sand on the floor!”

Warsong stepped onto the gun deck looking through one of the gun ports as the enemy ship was coming into view “On the up row! Fire!” firing strings were pulled as explosions erupted from the guns, sending deadly projectiles at the enemy ship the recoil pushing the guns back to be caught by thick ropes wrapped around the back of them.

“Keep pressuring them!” yelled Warsong as the guns were being reloaded, making his way to the top deck another volley hit them, an explosion sending Warsong sprawling to the floor as bells rang in his ears, everything around him sounded silent but it was the picture of chaos as crew members moved about performing duties to deal with the enemy airship. He slowly got to his hooves, quickly galloping to the railing and grabbing a looking glass holding it up to his eye to spot the name of the enemy airship as its rear flew by, the name Archer was what he saw “Sir! You’re needed at the engines!” Warsong lowered the looking glass and handed it off to a crew member as he made his way to the engines of the air ship that kept it aloft.

An engineer made his way from the engines to meet with Warsong “Sir! The steering it shot, the helm won’t answer!” Warsong nodded as he spotted the Archer, begin it’s turn for another run at them. Below decks the doctor worked tirelessly to help the wounded, his hooves covered in blood he paused for a moment to look at the roof of the deck above “Why are we not firing?” he asked as he looked around at the room filled with the groaning wounded, his assistant shrugged before going back to work.

Warsong stood at the helm of the ship as his first mate trotted over to him “Orders sir?” Warsong smirked before he turned to the smaller stallion “Call the gun crew to deck and get some guns facing toward our rear, get all Pegasi out front of the ship pulling us toward the fog, we’ll hide in there while we repair the engines” The first mate saluted and quickly shouted Warsongs orders for the crew

Two cannons were raised and placed behind the helm pointing at their rear as the enemy airship began to chase after them, the Victory making for the fog with a long line of Pegasus pulling ropes out the front of the airship “Pull together! Get us into that fog bank!” at the rear of the airship the sound of explosions of the guns firing at the enemy ship could be heard as the whistle of projectiles from the Archer shot past them “She’s gaining on us!” yelled a crew member as Warsong looked through his looking glass to see the enemies captain looking towards them with his looking glass “Pull!” yelled the lieutenant Pegasus who was out on the ropes with the other Pegasi, as they all grunted loudly in a wordless chant over and over as they pulled with all their might, their wings beating hard.

As they entered the fog a cheer rose up as Warsong smiled at their escape before he turned to his crew “Quiet down! Silence on deck!” the booming sounds of the Archer’s guns firing another volley towards them could be heard but the projectiles couldn’t be seen in the thick clouds that was now their safe haven.

***

Present time

The warm touch of the sun played over Bass Rhythms face as he lay in bed, opening his eyes slowly he yawned while he sat up looking around him, his eyes widened as he noticed this wasn’t where he fell asleep last night. His thoughts went back to last night when he spent the night in the gardens with Luna, a smile coming to his face “I guess we’re official now…” but his face became serious once more as he looked around the room seeing that it was similar somehow to Luna’s room except that there was no fireplace, no high backed chair and no sign of the Alicorn herself. Removing himself from the black silk sheets of the circular double bed, his head looked towards the door when the sound of a doorbell went off at the door, walking over to it he opened it to see no one was there.

Frowning he closed the door before the doorbell went off again just as he closed it, opening the door again he looked out into the short windowed hallway that led to some spiral stairs that went upwards, he scratched his head looking outside the door for a doorbell but finding none, scratching his head with his hoof he closed the door once more walking into the bedroom once more.

When the non-existent doorbell went off a third time, Bass Rhythm bucked the door open, a look of annoyance on his face to find the empty hall once more, closing the door slowly leaving it open by a crack, hearing the imaginary doorbell go off in a constant tune rising in tempo he pushed the door open “Now listen he-!” was all he could say before a bucket of water fell on his head, soaking him. Closing the door again the ‘doorbell’ went off, he slammed the door open a large tuna fish slapping him in the face, luckily the bucket took most of the blow, when he could see the hallway once more it was empty. Sighing he closed the door and put the tuna fish which was still alive in the bucket which he refilled in the bathroom, stinking now of fish a knock came at his door causing him to gallop slamming the door open to see Princess Luna standing there.

Visibly calming himself, he smiled warmly at his new fillyfreind “How is thee fairing after last night?” Bass Rhythm scratched the back of his head “Not so well, I think someone is pranking me, was that you making imaginary doorbell sounds before?” The alicorn princess looked at him in confusion before a look of recognition came to her face then a look of annoyance “It is our sister…She did the same thing to us two weeks ago…Did she slap thee in the face with a fish as well? You smell like it, we will take thy answer as a yes.” Bass Rhythm moved out of the way so Luna could enter “What is this room?”

Luna took a seat at the small table inside, her magic pulling the curtains to reveal a similar window wall that she had in her room “This is the Lunar Guard captain quarters, it is to the left of our room while the right set of stairs takes thee to the Lunar Guard living quarters. This is the midnight wing of the palace.” Bass Rhythm nodded in reply “Mind if I go shower to get rid of this stink?” When the Princess of the night gave her consent the Unicorn stallion stepped into his bathroom, the sound of a shower running soon followed. Luna listened to the water run, closing her eyes gently “We will be going to bed soon, we we’re a bit saddened when thee fell asleep in our embrace but we also found it so cute, we brought thee up here to sleep in a proper bed…We may have spent some time lying with thee in thy bed as well.” A smile came to her face when she heard a small squeak of surprise come from the bathroom.

After a little bit Bass Rhythm stepped out of the bathroom, his hair a bit of a mess from drying, Luna stepped up from her seat and walked towards the door “Hopefully tonight will be as eventful as last night and maybe you won’t fall asleep this time?” Bass Rhythm nodded quickly “I’ll walk you to your bedroom?” Luna shook her head with a smile before kissing her coltfreind on the lips “That is fine, we will see thee this afternoon” and with that she left, stepping out of the door, sometime later another doorbell sound came from the door causing Bass Rhythm to groan loudly.

***

By midday, Lightning Flicker and Cross wind were walking through the streets of Canterlot after a filling breakfast cooked by Mrs. Hammer and her shockingly beautiful daughter, the two pegasi could not see the family resemblance between Heavy Hammer and his sister “This place ain’t as good as Manechester but its mares are sure pretty, I’d sure like to take them home for the night”  The burly stallion that was Heavy Hammer looked down at Lightning Flicker “I hope you are not speaking of sister.” The Pegasus shook his head quickly “No of course not Heavy, come on lets go to the races and win some bits for the dancers tonight” he jerked his head to a large marble building that stood at the head of a court yard with the statue of a featureless Alicorn, it was more of an abstract piece. Stepping past the statue they trotted up the stairs towards the race track just as the trumpet began to sound.

Lightning Flicker stomped his hoof and irritation for missing the betting for the race Heavy Hammer looked towards the Pegasus with a neutral look on his face “We’ll bet next race” they made their way down to the public boxes, though Lightning Flicker had a nice view of a private box where a pink maned white unicorn mare sat with another unicorn of obvious high class, a hoof touched his shoulder as he looked to see Cross Wind shaking his head “I can see that she is an escort…And I know how it always ends with those kind of mares.”

Cross wind kept his expression and stared unblinkingly at Lightning “Listen I learned my lesson the last time, doesn’t mean I can’t marvel in the mares beauty” Heavy hammer decided to interject at that moment “I believe I can guess what problems you’ve had in the past with mares, if you want to pay attention to something, perhaps you should pay attention to the race.” Lightning looked surprised as he noticed the race had finished, getting up he quickly made his way to the end of the aisle to make his way to the betting booths, he was followed by Heavy hammer though “I am getting us some lunch what will you and Cross have?” The Pegasus recruit thought for a moment “I think I’ll have some hay fries, Cross will have the same, here.” Lightning handed a small pouch of bits to Heavy “Get something nice for yourself to eat”

The large stallion smiled warmly “It is nice to have you as friend, I am hoping that you win your bet” After some time the stallions returned to their seat to find Cross sitting alone as he stared intently at the race track specifically where the race ponies were readying themselves, sitting in their seats Heavy handed the two Pegasi their hay fries while he himself had a veggie burger “You’ll never believe who is in the race Cross it’s Selly from our foalhood” Cross nodded pointing a hoof at the starting line at a yellow coloured Earth pony mare, she had a curly white mane with  two hoof shoes interlocked together as her cutie mark to represent her running talent.

“I bet on her for the race, she’ll win it for sure” the starting horn sounded and the races took off when the gates opened, Selly took off keeping with the rest of the pack as they rounded the first corner she made her move of dodging and weaving between the other racers, moving almost like a dancer as she galloped, slowly making her way to the front by the second turn, making her move once more on the inside she passed the leader and increased her speed considerably when she had a straight shot for the lead just as they turned for the home stretch the other racers letting loose as they went into the home stretch, the announcer was speaking very quick as the race was going to be a photo finish the ponies crossed the finish line as a flash of quick light went off on the line.

“Did she make it?” asked Heavy as they looked at the viewing board as the judges went over the picture, after some examination they placed Selly as the winner the two stallions cheered while Cross wind remained silent but with a small smile Heavy sat down once more looking at the others “Should we go meet with her?” Lightning flicker shook his head “Nah, we’ll see her at the grand galloping gala, a race pony like her will get a personal invitation, and by then we’ll be full-fledged Lunar Guard” he hoof bumped Cross wind before they watched several more races, keeping their winnings instead of gambling it away they left with intentions to go to the exotic dancer clubs.

***

As night began to fall Bass Rhythm stood outside in the training yard, his sword, beret and arm band were placed against the fence of the magical training pen. He was panting heavily and sweat poured off of him “I’ve almost got it…I’m going to complete my own spell” he said to himself under his breath as lightning coursed over him before it concentrated onto his horn, the lightning suddenly burst forth with energy a loud screech emanating from the electricity as jagged forks shot off from his horn, scorching the ground around him, he suddenly shot forwards, galloping at the target, lowering his head so his horn was pointed directly at the chest, the lightning streaking from his horn to form a tunnel around the Unicorn emanating directly from his horn.

He lunged forwards at the last second the horn penetrated the target, an explosion of power shooting forth causing dust to cloud the entire area, when it finally cleared Bass Rhythm looked down at the small crater at his hooves where the target used to be with a smile, he turned to the sound of hooves clopping together to see Grass Blade watching him “That was excellent Captain, a spell that will impress Starswirl the bearded himself” Bass Rhythm just smiled and shrugged “I’m just aiming to impress Warsong, I studied what he told me about lightning magic and decided to invent my own spell, I don’t have name for it though, maybe Lightning Horn?” Grass Blade shook her head “Try Blitz Strike” Bass nodded before he stepped out of the pen, carrying his effects in his magic, feeling too sweaty to put on the hat and armband

“I’m going for a quick shower, what have you been doing all day? And why are you here?” Grass Blade walked with him towards the entrance into the palace “I was just coming to see what the place I’ll be working at night looks like, and I’ve just been touring the city all day. I have nothing better to do tonight since the boys are going to the exotic dancer clubs to see some mare shake her flank in their face” Bass Rhythm shook his head “I could direct you to a nice club in town, it’s called Club Hoof a friend of mine is doing a gig there tonight. You should look cute for the bouncers, they’ll let you in. Then just go up to the stage and tell her ‘Dj Rhythm captained the last Sin Olympiad for Alpha-Beta house’ She’ll know you’re a friend of mine and she’ll make sure you get VIP treatment.”

The Earth pony mare raised an eyebrow “What is this ‘Sin Olympiad’?” Bass Rhythm couldn’t help but grin even though he tried to hide it “Oh it’s nothing…Though don’t think anything of it if you see my friend blush when you mention it to her.” Grass Blades eyebrow remained raised “Now I’m curious” Bass Rhythm shook a hoof at her “Don’t think anything of it seriously, I’ll see you later” And with that Bass Rhythm left her, heading to his bedroom in the midnight wing, when he arrived he saw a familiar pony awaiting him, it was Warsong, back from the training camp “You finish that paper work?” The ancient warrior rose from the chair he was sitting in “Yes, I’ve been hearing news about you and Luna; you haven’t gotten to home base yet have you?” Bass Rhythm frowned for a moment then a look of realisation dawned on his face “Oh…No of course not! I’d place us at second base.”

Warsong nodded before he walked over to his student placing a hoof on his shoulder “I saw you creating a new spell down in the practise yard, I should scold you for trying a dangerous task without me keeping an eye on you. But I’m proud of you for creating a powerful spell.” Bass Rhythm couldn’t help but smile at his teachers praise “Do you want me to to teach it to you?” The ancient warrior shook his head “No I think I’ve figured it out, it’s a little complicated but I think from watching you do it enough times I’ve figured the idea behind it.” His student nodded and made his way into the bathroom to wash himself “Yeah the power comes from the thrust of your horn and from speed. When I finished it, it was still a bit clumsy, I have the thrust down no problem, but it’s the speed so I need more of a run-up but with the speed I need to really make it effective, I won’t be able to change course so it’ll be a straight line attack.”

His teacher sat at the chair once more while his student washed himself up “What you need is some wind magic to enhance your speed and couple it with lightning. But using two elements at once is very hard, I’ve only known about five or six ponies that can do it including myself, Celestia, Luna, Bladesinger, Starswirl and maybe Celestia’s student, she has potential, so do you.” When Bass finished he stepped out with a towel drying his hair “So how does one use two elements at the same time?”

Warsong sighed loudly as he felt a long lecture was coming on “It’s like looking left and right at the same time, you’d need to split your brain figuratively in half with the right side working lightning and the left working wind, it’d be easier if we had two horns instead of one but it’s more in the brain rather than the horn, it takes months even years of constant meditation and mental exercise to train your brain to do two completely different things at once.” Bass Rhythm thought about it for a moment “I’ll keep it in mind teacher, I’ve got a date with Luna tonight” Warsong nodded to his student before he rose from his chair “Good luck, and maybe you’ll get to third base.”

***

The date with Luna quickly broke down into another make out session after dinner inside her room, passion filled the air, the love of the two ponies was apparent as they lay on the bed, however this passion was tame, both lovers not pushing to let their entire lust take over, Bass Rhythm could see that Luna was saving herself for a special night not that she hasn’t had lovers in the past nor the fact she’s gone through a thousand years’ worth of heat and nopony to help get it out of her system. She was holding herself back as was Bass Rhythm in respect of the princess “Is thee ok Bass?” The former Dj broke the kiss from her neck to look at her “Yeah I’m fine what is the matter?” Looking at Luna’s face he could see a look of concern “Thee seems to be… Holding back” Bass Rhythm chuckled softly “I’m only going as far as you want me to your highness; I imagine you’re holding back yourself”

The princess of the night lowered her gaze as a red blush played over her features “We are holding back mostly because…We are a bit of a harsh lover and we don’t feel as though we are ready yet.” The blue unicorn nodded softly “I understand, whenever you feel ready I will be ready, and I’m willing to go as far as you want.” At that moment the princess placed a hoof against Bass’ lower body before slowly raising her face towards his horn “Then in that case, let us take one step forwards then” Bass hissed softly as he whispered “Third base…”