Moonlit Skies

Moonlit Skies

Chapter 4:

And down we plunged, a fireball

A skeletal frame of ash...

Given the circumstances, it didn't take Verdant long to regain consciousness. He blinked open his eyes and saw blue sky, partially blocked by a thick black smoke. Bits of flaming wood seemed to hover in midair around him. It was then that he heard the wind.

The debris wasn't floating, it was just falling at the same speed as him. At the sudden realization that he was falling from hundreds of fathoms up, he snapped open his wings. Unfortunately, he hadn't looked up first. The sudden decrease in speed allowed the rest of the Australis to catch up with him, smashing into him from above and sending him spiralling sideways. Eventually he managed to regain control, and he began falling at a much slower pace with the Australis directly below him.

He had forgotten to look up again. A much small piece of flaming wreckage impacted the back of his head. His last thought before the darkness closed in around him was, 'Not again...'

There was heat below, and cold above. It took Verdant's muddled mind a few seconds to realize that neither of these were good things. He opened his eyes... and found himself looking into a fiery pit. He yelped and jumped backwards... and into a snowbank. "Lovely." He waited a moment, half expecting a mare's sarcastic reply. There wasn't one. 'It was my responsibility to keep her safe...'

He laid in the snow for an hour. Unwilling to even bother to try to find safety. A single thought caused him to stir. 'Carrionrook will die.'

Free of his misery, and set on revenge, he stood up and began to scavenge the skeletal remains of the Australis, whose fires had died out in the cold. He found his cutlass, cooled from it's time outside of it's sheath, impaled in a piece of the ship's hull. There was also a bag of ammo, though only five of the shots in it were explosive.

It wasn't until he investigated the cabin, which had broken off in the impact, that he found the most important item he owned. It was a dragonflame candle, for sending mail instantly in environments where keeping a live dragon would be unethical. Princess Celestia had given it to him, and told him only to use in in an extreme emergency. He was pretty sure this counted.

Princess Celestia's breakfast with Luna was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a letter. The color of it's aura upon arrival told her that it was from Verdant. She quickly opened it. Her expression turned to anger the farther she read. Luna noticed and asked, "What is that?"

Celestia tossed the letter to her sister. "You owe me an explanation, sister. And possibly much more."

Luna picked up the letter from where it had landed on the table in front of her.

Princess Celestia,

On my way to the site where I was to take readings, a mare who was apparently from the moon landed on my ship. I turned around to take her to Princess Luna, but we were attacked by a hippogriff bounty hunter named Carrionrook en route.

The mare was killed in the attack, and I've crash landed in the mountains at the border of the Southern Jungle.

I ask that you send a recovery crew immediately, and grant me funding to rebuild my ship.

~Aurora

Luna slowly placed the letter back on the table. "What have I done?"

Celestia had risen to her hooves, and was now glaring at her sister. "Rook is only authorized to take jobs from us. What you did is not in question. I want to know why."

"He discovered something he shouldn't have."

"The mare? We will discuss the fact that there is an entire race on the moon that you never told me about later. Right now, I need to figure out what to tell Verdant. And you might want to read the back of the letter."

Luna picked up the letter again and flipped it over.

Violet and I may have had the beginnings of a relationship, and I feel I owe it to her to find the bastard who did this. Then I'm going to find his employer. I understand if you do not wish to assist me with funding, but a new ship will lessen the chances of me dying in the process.

All Celestia had left to say before turning to leave was, "I'm funding him. You'd better have covered your tracks."

"Sister?"

"What?"

"Violet... was the name of my daughter."

While he waited for a response, Verdant decided to see if just maybe, Carrionrook had died in the explosion. When he realized that the Captain was nowhere to be found, he didn't know if he should be happy about it or not. On one hoof, that wretched creature was still alive, but on the other, it would still be possible to torture the name of his employer out of him.

He jumped when a letter appeared in mid-air beside him with a pop. He unrolled the scroll and began to read.

Verdant,

I approve all required funding, and the HMS Shadow of a Doubt has been deployed to pick you up. Keep warm for the next few days, and we'll get you back to Canterlot.

"Alrighty then. I guess I'm staying put."

A low growl answered him.

"Oh dear."

Captain Carrionrook was not a happy hippogriff. He managed to get back to the Raven Mocker, but not without acquiring some nasty burns. The most prominent of which was directly on the left side of his face. His day became substantially worse when he found out via letter that he was now wanted for the attempted assassination of Celestia's top scientist.

As he held a pack of ice to his face, he considered how anypony could have even figured out what had happened so quickly. It honestly took a few minutes for the slightly slow Captain to figure it out. Attempted assassination. The pegasus was still alive.

"Alright stallions, the Princesses have betrayed us, and we are now the most wanted crew in all of Equestria. Luckily, that pegasus whose ship we trashed survived. What do you say we go and teach that stupid bird a lesson!?"

"YEAH!"

As the resounding cheer from his crew answered him, Carrionrook allowed himself a small smile. He was going to teach the Princesses a lesson they would not soon forget, and kill that annoying bird in the process.