Act I: A Storm Brews
Chapter I
Deep in the heart of the Royal Library lies
a section sealed from public eyes
A place that no pony may come to pry
Inside lay books of dark power, secrets and lies
Secrets too sensitive for the populous to know
A set of tomes detailing how an evil was laid low
No pony will know of the heroic deeds done,
nor the dark course that run
there they lay till times course is past:
and all things mortal have turned to dust...
--------- Canterlot Suburbs ---------
The day was warm, the sun shined happily in the sky and all things we peaceful. The idealistic town snoozed in the afternoon heat. The shops were closed for the day, they're trade done in the morning when the day had yet to warm up. However the shadows bore secrets...
His charcoal coloured coat blending into the summer shade, Cpt. Brightmare was distinguished only by his vivid orange and red mane. He wore a shirt of scaled bronze armour over the black coat bearing the sign of the Celestian Buro of Intelligence - known more casually as the Celestian Secret Service. Pursuing a lead on the recent 'Dark Cult' had lead to hard choices; three times had his team encountered casualties when raiding the suspect's location. Three times had the collateral damage been catastrophic. Three times He had eluded him... But not today.
He was cornered. A large building painted in gaudy colours stood in the middle of the square. A meticulous plan had been carved out, involving all 20 ponies under Brightmane's command, himself included, attacking the building from all four sides; thus trapping Him . Intel had provided a complete floor by floor plan of the building. It had ascertained the threat level, rating it possible risk of blade on blade contact. With surprise on his side Brightmane could rush in, secure Him and prevent Him from damaging any evidence or hurting his men.
A headset made of a brass band hung over his head. A resonance crystal linked to a receiver crystal made a long range communication device which every member of his team made use of. As of now there was to be no communication on them; crystal quiet, as Brightmane called it. Brightmane's second in command moved up next to him.
"All squads report they're in position. They're awaiting orders sir." Brightmane's second in command, Lt. Starbow whispered quietly. Starbow would be holding back with the corpsponies and crystal radio pony that made up Brightmane's command squad. They would provide logistical and medical support if needed.
It won't Brightmane thought to himself. The intel was clear. The suspect was in the house, along with several additional civilians. He had no firepower or defence systems in place leaving it down to Himself to defend himself in hand to hand combat where He wouldn't stand a chance against trained CBI stallions. He turned on the physic crystal link with a thought. There were civilians on the square but they were outside the predicted danger zone for the op. The only issue would be a grand total of one civilian inside, suspected to be a friend of their target. Brightmane drew a breath, this was it. All protocols had been cleared...
"Squads Red, Yellow and Blue this is Rainbow, op is live; I repeat the op is live!"
Like in a well rehearsed story, the four squads; Red, Yellow, Blue and Rainbow, arose like smoke from the hazy shade. Agents assigned to a supporting role, Corpsponies and agents armed with the most recent ranged weapon - the psylock - took up positions behind low walls and hedges, moving civilians who were too close away from the op zone.
Others, Brightmane included, rushed for the doors and windows that had been designated entrances. Despite Intel's assurances the stallions moved far apart from each other, a trick Brightmane picked up when the team had ran straight into mines and explosives laid out for them. Two of the team's Pegesi flew to the top story where they'd enter via a small window; they're bronze scaled armour glinting in the sunlight.
Brightmane came within five meters of the window he planned to jump through. Time slowed, or seemed to. Brightmane saw the window shatter, though not by the forces of his hooves punching through the frame, but by some invisible wave. Then he felt it, saw it, tasted it. A warm glow came from the shattering window; it looked so friendly. The glow rushed from the window to meet Brightmane, but it never reached him. The percussive blast of the explosion hit the stallion and threw him back. His world span, his mind reeled, his body exploded in agony and then everything went black....
--------- The Half Moon Tavern, Cloudsdale port ---------
First-Mate Beeter Black took a hefty swig from the tankard of ale and slammed it down on the table top. The tavern was alive with laughter, conversation and music. Beeter was a bulky pony, strong muscles and a purplish-red coat, he'd joined the crew of an East Equestria Trading Company airship as a basic airman; now here he was, second in command on one of the most feared pirate blimps in the sky.
He'd joined up with the pirates when, on his first voyage no less, his ship had been attacked and boarded. The ship had had no guard and the airmen had given up without a fight and then were given a choice, join the pirates or become a hostage along with the ship.
Back the Beeter was eager for adventure, and it didn't really matter to him who was flying the ship as long as that person kept it flying. Better join these pirates than spend a few months sitting around waiting to be ransomed by the EETC or the government.
He soon learnt that the pirate gang were known as 'the gentlecolt pirates' for their habit of always taking a ship politely (well... polite compared to other pirates). Back then there had been little in the sky's that could hurt them. The Equestria military had little to no presence in the skies and the trading vessels made large, slow, juicy targets that had no protection what so ever.
A few years past, slowly the ships got guards: not a big issue, easily handled by a bit of brute strength. Then the Equestria military launched its first airship fleet: a little bit more dangerous but still nothing that the gentlecolts couldn't outrun or outfight. Now it seemed that the government had finally responded and it was cracking down hard on piracy. Military raids on pirate havens and ports, all pirates were to be fired on on sight, merchants travelled in convoys... Beeter sighed, perhaps now would be a good time to give up the pirate life. He'd been at it a good few years and had his share of loot - yet he still thirsted for adventure.
The tavern doors swung open and the place went silent. A remarkably well dressed stallion with a brilliant white coat strolled in. He wore a jacket of black satin, a gold rimmed monocle over his left eye and a velvet lined top hat on his head; at his flank hung a straight sabre - this gentlecolt was the rightly feared Captain Mormont, leader of the gentlecolt pirates and overall a very suave and pleasant guy (described by a hostage, not by Beeter or any of the crewmembers of The Good Sir...) Mormont made his way to Beeter's table, settling in on a stool opposite him.
"And how is my first-mate doing this fine day hmm...?" Mormont asked cheerily "enjoying our new hidey hole since our previous refuge was conveniently burnt down leaving us pirates no place to commune."
"I'm finding it fine captain..."
"Fine doesn't cut it, come now Beets; who would ever had thought it, us earth ponies up here in Cloudsdale! The very centre of Equestrian airborne might and here we are right under their noses! Oh does it not make your sides split!"
"I'm still recovering from the shock when I heard that Cloudsdale opened a port that had walk ways built for non-pegasi. You know what they're like with they're nationalism and all that; who could believe they'd let us 'humble earth bound ponies' step foot in their city."
"You can't have nationalism without capitalism can they? What better way to earn money than to act as the dock yard for the royal air fleet hmm...?" Mormont glanced around "I've caught wind of a rumour, a rather profitable rumour mayhaps hmm...?" he leaned in close to Beeter; Beeter did the same,
"Word on the wind is; the EETC has sanctioned a blockade on Misty Mount port on account for being a haven for our pirate breatherin. The same blockade is being supported by Her Majesty's Royal Air Fleet. No trade is getting through. "
"Just think of those poor ponies up in the port, what will they do without their exotic foods and expensive fabrics and other objects of their gluttonous desire! Oh what woe has befallen them, but should a ship run the blockade, mayhaps there'd be some coin in it hmmm...?"
"You want to run a royal blockade..." Beeter leaned back "Are you mad!" he hissed "we'll be torn to shreds by cannon fire before we get within the docks, or boarded by one of those new, super fast frigates that was launched in Canterlot not a few weeks ago!"
"Relax Beets, HM Royal Air Fleet wouldn't dare harm one of the EETC convoys that is only moving to assist the blockade hmmm...?" a smug smile appeared on Mormont's lips
"You devious devil, we pose as an EETC ship, sneak in at night, sell stuff, come out at day break, no one is none the wiser..." Beeter began smiling too: the adventure was on...
--------- Canterlot; the Royal Chamber of Council ---------
The young lord Dommers Bayes Hogrham waited nervously outside the council chambers awaiting the herald to call him in. No more than eight and ten years of age he had stepped into the council to fill his late uncle's spot after his untimely and sudden death. He was still recovering from the shock that had befallen him when a royal messenger, escorted by four pegesi of the Celestial royal guard, had informed him of his uncles demise and of his entitlement to the province of Hedrion.
The nervous colt was smartly in a crimson jacket that matched his brown coat and black mane. Under the jacket he wore a cream shirt with ruffs on the sleeves and at his waist he wore a sash of dark red silk. As he'd made his way to the royal palace he'd drawn some looks from the elite of Canterlot, who wore more traditional suits and gowns; whether they'd been looks of interest or disgust was a different matter that Bayes had yet to figure out. Still, it was high fashion back in Hedrion and personally it made him feel rather dashing and even slightly heroic, feelings that he would need if he was to survive his first day in court.
The herald came out from behind a purple curtain to show the new lord of Hedrion to his seat. The council chamber was a small room which was taken up but a fine, round table made of dark wood and surrounded by chairs carved from the same exotic wood, the cushions made from a fine velvet, each one coloured differently according to the lord or lady who sat there.
Bayes was surprised his seat was so near the head of the table, not four seats from where Celestia herself would sit. He'd asked the steward if the herald had been correct in directing him to the seat when he came round asking the council members for items to be added to the days agenda. "Don't you worry yourself young sir, everyone is nervous on their first day. The seats are arranged by alphabetical order by name of province."
"They know it's my first day... right?"
"They do indeed sir, just try not to be too jumpy."
Bayes nodded and the steward trotted off to talk to the other council members. A few more came in later but by the time the council was due to begin over two thirds of the chairs were empty. To Bayes left sat the lady of Malphon, Lady Amber, a far northern province, and across from him sat the Lord Commander and warden of the northern frontier, Lord Dester.
Amber wore gold and sapphire blue doublet with a pendant of gold inlaid with silver scroll work which hung from his neck. Dester wore gold breast plate with red, green and purple detail enamelled onto the metal. A glorious purple cape with gold lining hung across his back and a helmet, similar to that of the Celestial royal guard but finer, sat on the table.
The gathered lords and ladies whispered amongst themselves until a hush fell across the table and all eyes were drawn to the herald who stood by the curtain. "All rise for her most revered highness, princess Celestia , rightful ruler of Equestria and the lands of the east."
Bayes rose along with the rest and bowed his head as his ruler entered the chamber. She thanked the herald, who promptly blushed and bowed away, then took her seat in the large chair at the head of the table. The whole room seemed to have brightened by the glow of her mane and the young, crimson clad clot looked in awe - he'd never seen Celestia before. She motioned for the councillors to sit with a wave of her hoof, glanced around the room then looked at Dester to begin the council session.
Dester rose "My lady, might begin this session by inquiring as to whether miss Luna will be joining us today?"
"I'm afraid she is taken up by other business this day."
The stallion sighed "It's for the best I guess since the 'royal Canterlot voice' incident" all the councillors gave a slight chuckle, Celestia herself wore a wry smile. Bayes didn't understand but gave a nervous laugh all the same.
Before Dester could continue Amber spoke up; "for the benefit of our newest member perhaps we should resign from inside jokes? The poor colt's scared enough as it is!" a statement greeted with another round of chuckles which subsided soon after Celestia nodded her head in agreement of Amber's statement.
"I'm sorry Lord Bayes - the council can be a little silly when not many members are present." Celestia turned back to the Lord Commander "Dester, could we please get back to the matters of state... and try not to derail the council anymore than it already is?" she said in her soft yet powerful voice.
"Certainly, my lady" and thus the council went onto discuss matters of money, the blockade of Misty Mount Port and several trivial matters (most of which were mind numbingly boring, especially the one about what makes a Ponyville cider superior to an Appleloosen cider) . Bayes stayed quiet on most matters since he didn't understand much of 'politics'. "This brings us to the last matter on our agenda for today" Dester paced around the table as he announced this. "I've received a recent report that worries me if I'm to be honest."
"Everything worries you Dester, it's your job to worry!" Amber cried out.
"That maybe so but hear me out. Celestia, this report show proof of the Mylorian military moving supplies and troops into the neutral mountain ranges, which under the Equestria-Mylorian Peace treaty is strictly forbidden." He took a break to look around the councillors "I know not one of us can sleep easy with Mylorian soldiers pretty much on our doorstep!"
"Dester, what you do not know is that those soldiers are conducting operations there at my own request." Celestia spoke showing no sign of concern on her face.
"So it is true you've been conducting military operations behind my back!" The Lord Commander pointed an accusing hoof at Celestia. "I cannot have this! For heaven's sake Celestia I am you Lord Commander and as such you should leave these things to me! You may be powerful and wise but by no means are you a military leader!"
Bayes looked around expecting shocked expressions in regard to the lord commander's outburst... but apparently it was common place. The Lord Commander went on to complain about how Celestia shouldn't be inviting their enemies closer and how lives were at risk and other things. The continuous shouting bothered Bayes, he'd expected the council to be civil! After a few more minutes of the Lord Commander ranting he intervened;
"Lord Commander would you quieten down. I'm sure miss Celestia has good reasons to keep her motives hidden from you." now that shocked the council; the new colt telling the Lord Commander to 'quieten down' would be the talk of the town as soon as the session had ended. Even Celestia raised an eyebrow at her newest Councillor. It seemed he'd gotten the room's attention.
"Perhaps a compromise. Miss Celestia can keep her motives a secret from you but you can move troops towards the northern border and evacuate surrounding towns in anticipation of an attack seeing as you seem most concerned with the lives of our fellow Equestrians."
Destron thought for a second "A good idea... if the Mylorian government wasn't as petty as it is. Doing so will simply anger them, they'll claim we're up to something and enforcing our border could start a whole war in itself!"
"The we don't garrison the troops there. What if we were to run a series of manoeuvres bringing ships from 2nd fleet in the west round counter-clockwise to 'represent forces attacking Canterlot from the west' and you can bring ships from the east to 'represent forces moving in defence of Equestria'. By the time such manoeuvres are complete the threat will have passed or made itself into a target and we can act accordingly at that time."
The council was silent "Destron?" Celestia asked
"It is a sound military plan; I suppose it would protect us from any possible Mylorian incursion originating from the North..." The Lord Commander sighed "yes, this will do."
"Then it is settled, Lord Commander you can see to this action being implemented and I'll see to it that the Mylorian government's suspicions are calmed. You therefore have your protection and I have my secrecy - the young lord is quite correct I do have my reasons for keeping it away from you and believe me that when the time comes I'll tell you all you need to know."
Celestia stood, the councillors rose just after. "Without any further business this session of the royal council is ended" and with that their radiant ruler left. The councillors soon did the same. The Lady Amber tapped Bayes on the shoulder;
"Walk with me..." she said simply. Since Bayes had really nowhere else to be - or any idea of where he should be - he complied with the young lady's wish...
--------- Mountain Foothills, Myloria ---------
Initiate Thorsten lay flat in the undergrowth. Around him were his cult brothers, each hidden in the dark. In his hooves he held a psylock, something he never thought a rag tag band of militant cultists would get their hands on but here it was.
And here they were; the foothills of the Myloria mountain range which separated Myloria from Equestria down south, recent pressures applied by the government of Equestria had causd those in the Mylorian parliament to step up their actions in fighting the cultists and thus a secret war had erupted.
Today would be a blow against the Mylorian forces in the mountains; Thorsten was part of a raiding party two score strong made up of a mixture of earth, unicorn and pegasus ponies. Their leader was Sister Babylon, a unicorn of strong magic prowess. Their target; a convoy of military supplies. Their target was rumbling up the road they had hid around; the guards looked tired, some even slept (it was the middle of the night...), a few ponies to his left was Babylon, a small glow began to surround from his horn, Thorsten tensed. He sighted his psylock... He held his breath......
A great, magical ball of bright light shot into the air from Babylon 's horn, so bright it could've rivalled the sun in daylight. The shocked convoy guards shielded their gaze from the burning light - blinded by the sudden explosion of light in the dark night. From both sides of the road the cultists gave fire. Thorsten let his thoughts activate the psylock; the amplification crystal that made up the important part of a psylock glowed and Thorsten was bathed in a green, swirling light for a split second. Then the weapon discharged. The shock of the recoil as the weapon jumped in reaction to the powerful psychic energies that left it's barrel at mind blowing speeds.
So distracted by this Thorsten forgot to look to see where the shot went. He'd never fired a psylock before; the raiders had been handed them by a masked pegasus and told simply to will it to fire. Some of the more technologically savvy ponies had told him that it worked by taking a small part of the physic energy that all ponies had and amplifying it to a huge power via the crystal then discharging it through a focussing lens making the physic beam vaguely accurate. At least in theory. Most of the raiders shots seemed to be missing. Those bolts that did seemed to hit came from the unicorns, who didn't use psylocks as they already could unleash their physic energy in a similar way - magic. Thorsten then realised that this weapon made him almost equal to them, it was a strange feeling. He'd been raised to see unicorns as superior, as was the Mylorian culture. They formed the ruling classes in his country. He was but a simple earth pony; he could not fly like the pegasi or use magic like the unicorns but by the seven gods would he fight these unbelievers all the same.
And fight he did; thought after thought flowed from him and the psylock cracked and cracked until the crystal fizzled after about eight shots. Ejecting the spent crystal and loading a new one Thorsten readied himself to fire again, rearing up to squat on his hind legs, but when he aimed he found the fight was done.
Thorsten wandered down from his bush towards the carnage of the convoy. The Mylorian soldier-ponies had surrendered quickly after seeing their officer get hit. Babylon seemed happy with this; she always reasoned the more they took captive the more they could convince of the errors of their previous, heretical ways: and if anyone didn't realise their mistake could always be used for a sacrifice should such a ceremony be required. The carts bearing food, weapons and other useful supplies were mostly intact. A few were burned by unicorn magic bolts and the wood on others was dented and pitted with small holes where psylock blasts had impacted but apart from these minor cosmetic damages the carts were surprisingly intact.
Despite wanting to inspect their work, Thorsten kept his distance; he had no wish to see a dead stallion, especially on he could've shot. Sister Babylon was coming in Thorsten's direction surveying the ambush site. Despite fighting almost an equal number of better trained, better equipped soldiers the cultists had suffered only a few casualties, losing maybe five or six of their number. It was a small number but still... the fighting had only been raging for about a month and already the dead were mounting up.
"Do not worry over the killing young initiate." Babylon appeared at Thorsten's side; Babylon 's uncanny knack at understanding and knowing what anypony was thinking disturbed Thorsten. It was almost as if he could read people's minds. "Take solace in the scriptures of Wrath "For the sins of the Righteous shall be washed away in the heretic's blood"".
"And what of our dead?" Thorsten asked, semi-knowing the answer but humouring his leader knowing he already had a reply ready.
"The glorious dead shall serve our masters forever, now come initiate, there is business to discuss." Babylon started to walk off, Thorsten trailing behind wondering what 'business there was that involved him. He'd only joined the cult less than two months ago following in his parents footsteps. It wouldn't be anything important, he assured himself. Nothing important...
An authors note:
Dear Audience (whom ever you may be...)
Firstly I hope you enjoyed the story... if you didn't I guess you wouldn't have read this far down. Either way I would really appreciate some feed back. Were the characters all right? The names aren't too stupid? The dialogue interesting or not? How about those descriptive passages? Were those OK? And most importantly of all - is it pony enough? I've never written for pony's before. I've written for hero's and villain's and background characters - hell I even wrote for Satan once (he's actually a nice guy, just misunderstood) but not for pony's.
So farewell and thanks for reading!
Act 1: Chapter 2
While some may sleep
The shadow world weeps
For plots and schemes
And ambitious dreams
That bring to those
Who would fight those foes
Fear and Suffering on scales untold
--------- Royal Palace, Council Offices ---------
Bayes trotted alongside Amber as they made their way down the white marble floored corridor towards wherever she was leading him. It wasn't a long distance from the council offices and by the time Amber reached her office they'd only exchanged a few pleasantries and introductions. She motioned to him with her hoof to join her.
The office was panelled with old oak; carpets of deep red and blue covered the cold floor and matching curtains hung by the large, gothic style windows made out of the same white marble that made up the floors of the corridors. In the corner there was a small lit fireplace opposite to which was a drinks cabinet built to match the panelling. Bookshelves lined one whole wall and a large desk split the room in two.
"Take a seat," she said, nodding at two armchairs with upholstery that matched the carpet which were set around a low rectangular table "Can I get you a drink? Wine? cider? whisky?"
"I don't usually drink but hey, I'm not usually in Canterlot sitting on Celestia's own council... I'll take a whisky." the young lord said as he sat, pausing a second to reflect on how his clothes uncannily went with the rooms colour scheme.
Amber curled up into the remaining seat, handing a small glass of whisky to the new councillor. "You understand that Destron has been setting that little outburst up for weeks. He planned to call Celestia out on the operations she was doing behind his back he'd get some leverage." The gaudily dressed pony stared at Bayes with an eyebrow raised "you come in here, first day - fresh as grass to politics - and wreck his plan with your 'compromise'."
"Oh... err... didn't mean to... you see... erm..."
"Oh don't take me the wrong way! I'm happy for this. The Lord Commander is a great strategic mind but he's a little... rash... let's say. By doing this you may have prevented him forcing Celestia to go along with one of his rash plans. You may have even saved lives back there..."
"Wow, I never thought politics was very important..."
"Hmm... I can tell, you don't really get politics do you?"
"Well I was studying to become a military officer, not a lord... shouldn't the lordship of Hedrion gone to Dorthen, my cousin?"
"Well... in your province there is an obscure, traditional rule that decrees that a claim to the lords seat, or the throne as it was back when Hedrion was a kingdom, cannot go through a female pony; as your cousin traces his claim through your aunt he can't rightfully take the seat... I assumed you'd know this?"
"Well... as you said it's obscure... how do you know so much about my province?"
"I'm the head of economics for Celestia, it's my job to know all the little laws of the various provinces under her domain."
"Ah..."
"Anyway... seeing as Celestia pretty much agreed to your first proposal expect a lot of the less scrupulous Lords and Ladies to try and gain your favour."
"So because I'm the new pony on the street and the popular pony's taken a shine to me suddenly everyone will want to be my friend... that's basically what you're saying right?"
"That's pretty much politics. It's all about who you know and who likes you."
"Right... so isn't this just an attempt to befriend me and to thus gain 'leverage'?"
"You could say that, but I'm helping you aren't I? If I weren't seeking a true ally would I really be giving you advice, especially advice that make my own interests in you look suspicious."
"I guess so" Bayes raised the glass and looked at the rich, ginger coloured drink "to politics then..." he toasted.
"Yes... to politics..." Amber replied raising her own glass and sly smile flashing on her face for but a second as she took a sip of her drink...
--------- Canterlot Suburbs ---------
The world was black, pain pounded on the door into Brightmane's brain. He opened his eyes and the earth swirled. His ears were ringing. With toughness that only an Earth pony would have he staggered to his feet. "Military Intelligence... yeah right..." he muttered through gritted teeth.
The building was ablaze. It's once gaudy colours now turned into even brighter colours of orange, red and yellow. The sound of the aftermath came swirling back to his head. Shouts of "Medic!" and "Help!" and "Fire!" as well as screams and cries penetrated the roaring crescendo of the fire that was taking the small building by storm. The memories of the previous events started to come back, one by one, until it hit him like a steaming train - there was an innocent civilian inside that house. Heh, looks like I'm not the only one having a bad day the ash coated stallion thought unhappily.
Ignoring the heat of the flames, ignoring the fact that several of his ribs were probably cracked, ignoring the pounding pain in his head, Brightmane jumped through the window that he had aimed for before the explosion. Thankfully the fire had only set things like the curtains and a few wooden implements on fire. He was in the house's kitchen, two doors led out, one to his left, the other ahead. Brightmane ran up and bucked open the door to his front. It led into the living room, or what would have been the living room if it wasn't a burning wreck. The fire wooshed out of the door towards fresher air narrowly missing Brightmane by perhaps a tail's length.
A tongue of flame caught Brightmane's jacket under his armour and a small wisp of smoke appeared from the singed fabric. Diving to the floor and rolling over was simply a natural reaction for him, grunting at the pain that flared up from the fresh burn. Jumping up he bashed open the second door, this one led into a slightly less burning corridor with stairs leading up. As the kitchen was slowly engulfed in the spreading fire Brightmane ran for the stairs.
Taking them three, sometimes even four at a time he ran, dodging small patches of fire. The building shuddered. At the top of the stairs he found there to be nothing but a hole filled with burning beams and bits of floor and walls where the explosive device had detonated. Gripping the remains of the floor he slid slowly around the hole, holding onto exposed wooden beams and small holes where plumbing had once been.
The smoke fumes made his head spin, the heat of the fire was warming his armour to blistering temperatures - for all Brightmane knew, and the most likely case was, that the civilian was dead; blasted into collateral damage and incinerated in to just another statistic that would be covered up in a report mark confidential. On the bright side Brightmane might become one of those numbers and then Starbow could do the paperwork for a change.
Yeah, those fume defiantly are doing a number on me Brightmane thought as he swung himself over the lip of the hole and rolled onto the corridor that was opposite the stairs landing. The building grumbled and rumbled and some of the roof came crashing down somewhere in another part of the house. Brightmane struggled to his feet and charged the only door available to him.
Breaking through the weakened wood he maintained momentum, spotting a soot stained, very shocked pony who'd been laying on the floor to escape the smoke. Without losing speed Brightmane stooped and half helped, half dragged the pony up putting one of his front legs around the civilians neck. Running three hooves on the floor Brightmane rotated his body to shield the pony he was carrying as he shoulder barged his way through a large window.
The cool air rushed out to kiss the two ponies as they launched from the window. The wind was cold, freezing compared to the angry, rage filled inferno that had came so close to killing them. Fire light glinted off shards of glass which joined Brightmane and his civilian cargo as they fell together. Twisting his body round in the way everypony was trained to in cases such as these (he thought it the most useless drill at the time...) to shield the civilian from the fall Brightmane spun in the air and closed his eyes bracing for the sudden impact. Two stories wouldn't hurt him much but it would still leave a bruise; probably dislocate or break something too.
Sure as everything the ground rushed up to embrace the pair of ponies. Brightmane thumped into the soft earth and let out of slight cry as he felt his shoulder pop out of its socket, his spine twinge and his ribs crack...
The last thing Brightmane felt before passing out was being pulled away from the fire which roared and spat it's rage of being cheated of its victims at him, hearing the sound of the house collapsing and hearing Starbow mutter something about paperwork...
--------- Mylorian Cultist Camp North of Canterlot ---------
The camp was a hive of activity. Carts wheeled to and fro laden with supplies looted from the ambush as well as new equipment which had arrived from the masked pegasus who supplied all their weapons. These new carts contained large tubes and metal tripods; Thorsten had no clue as to what their purpose was.
Cultists dressed in dark purple robes moved around the camp in ritual procession. Seven priests, one for each god of the dark, chanted prayers to their dedicated god while a procession of other cultists trailed behind. Thorsten's own robes were back in his pack, saved for ceremonial use; it was to his relief that Babylon ignored the chanting crowd and continued towards the Elder's tent.
The Elder was an ancient man, wise in the ways of war, politics and most important of all; the seven gods. He guided the entire cult on their path towards the dark. The old stallion had purple dyed hair with a grey mane and beard which sharply contrasted the dark hue. He wore robes of the darkest black embodied with gold and silver thread threaded in patterns of chaos, destruction and decay.
Thorsten and Babylon bowed to him as they entered his tent. The Elder nodded to his two guards; tough stallions dressed in a similar black robe but with scale mail of a purple stained Malaphite worn over the top, who left the tent at their masters signal. In the corner of the tent was a large object covered in a canvas dust sheet. On the table lay strange objects that looked like metal cylinders with cones on top - like oversized, menacing fireworks .
"Greetings upon you brother and trusted initiate." The Elder looked Thorsten straight in the eye. The Elder's eyes were completely white. "I have kept the meaning of our meeting secret for good reason. I have a job for you two that is of utmost importance." The old pony shuffled around the table then looked at Babylon. He tapped his hoof on the table "sister, I trust you know of these?"
"Yes master."
"Then explain to the young initiate what these are, I trust a young farming colt will have no clue on weapons of war..."
Babylon turned to Thorsten "these things are called rockets. They're a bit like fireworks apart from the fact they're designed to kill. These particular ones look fresh from a Mylorian factory; you see the Mylorian military used them in the five day boarder war with Equestria. They're designed to shoot down airships, nice fat targets."
The Elder nodded his head "I'm surprised by your knowledge brother, how do you come to know such things?"
"I fought in the five day war, operated these myself."
"As I thought, so I suppose you'll understand this" the Elder drew the canvas cover off the object that was stored at the back of the tent. It was a small, squat, cart like thing with two large wheels and six bronze tubes arranged round a central mounting. The whole thing was inlaid with bronze and silver metal work and at its heart were cogs and springs that were connected to the central mount.
"I have seen those indeed: Mylorian Hell Guns. You see Thorsten, the rockets are loaded into each of those cylinders and the cogs are used to aim it. The whole thing is built to be receptive to magic so unicorns like me can fire them with deadly accuracy without even needing to touch it. " Babylon turned from Thorsten "but Elder, what are these for?"
"The question that I summoned you here to talk about. You two will join a small party of my most devoted initates and taking this new equipment to strike at our true enemy's heart."
"We're going to attack our own parliament over in Corthon?" Thorsten finally spoke up, but was unhappy to receive a raised eyebrow from Babylon and a slight sigh and shake of the head from the Elder.
"Initiate, the only way we can truly serve the gods is by taking power in the parliament. This plan will insure that. You see, I have been working on getting a puppet prime minister, that'll support the cult, into power. Let's just say, we have to burn some bridges to make new ones you see..."
"That makes no sense; how will burning bridges help our cause?" Thorsten was now very confused.
"It's a metaphor for destroying relationships and we're going for the big one." The Elder said flatly.
"We're going for Equestria; Canterlot I presume..." Babylon said in a low tone.
"Our relationship with Equestria is the keystone in our government, why else does the parliament persecute us so? It's because the damn sun princess fears us and fears her old adversaries and pressures our own people into fighting one another." The Elder strolled over to a small drinks cabinet. He spoke again pouring three small glasses of cider "If you can stir up old hatred then we can use that to our advantage." He handed the glasses to Babylon and Thorsten respectively, before picking up his own, taking a sip and then toasting "to Equestria...".
--------- Misty Mount Airspace ---------
Mormont's ship slid out of a cloud bank a good hundred meters or so above the blockade. Still over a thousand meters to go before they reached it lengthways but close nonetheless. Painted a deep shade of blue with white stripes and showing the colours of the EETC the ship was the very image of one of the companies courier ships.
The sky above the Misty Mount port was dotted with airships of varying sizes. Big hulks from Crystal Spire, sleek hulled frigates from Cloudsdale and gaudily painted Canterlot cruisers - all showing the colours of Celetia's royal air fleet. They serenely slid round the mountaintop city's terraced residential districts and busy factory sectors. Piers made of steel and old wood jutted off the sheer cliff face crowded by trade ships, pleasure blimps and private racing frigates. Most showing heraldry of at least a score of famous trading guilds, several wannabe racing teams and maybe five or six of the wealthy, upper-class houses from Canterlot. A suspicious few remained without identification...
As "The Good Sir" closed distance with the city a frigate broke off patrol and headed to intercept the intrepid pirates. The ship sped quickly across the several hundred or so meters that separated Mormont from his target; the general consensus among the crew was that it was the fastest frigate they'd laid eyes on.
"So how do you want to play this captain?" A pegasus named Crosswing, the ship's bosun, asked Mormont.
"Like we own the place. I know these Royal Military types - this'll work." The suit clad pony nodded, though it seemed to be in agreement to himself (a tad odd if you ask anypony).
Wood squeaked as the two ships ground together and an officer, resplendent in blue and gold, hopped onto "The Good Sir's" deck - a glance of disdain that didn't go unnoticed by the crew gracing the ponies features. He trotted forward towards the small group of airponies who'd gathered to meet him looking at each one with suspicion and malice "I am Second Mate Meio of "The Strom Bolt" - which of you is this ship's captain?"
"Well my good sir, that'd be me" Mormont took a step towards the soldier "and I'm Captain Mormont of the East Equestria Trading ship "The Good Sir" and I'm here to assess the blockade and report back to the board." he stated matching the officers stern gaze. Raising a hoof and pointing at the blockade past the officers shoulder the bold pony continued "I see multiple flaws in the execution of the blockade and it definitely is in breach of standard protocol - it isn't looking good for you military types." he went on nonchalantly "I'd like to be taken straight to the commander of this blockade."
Meio just stood still; a disappointed, yet completely unconvinced look, look on his face. "Captain Mormont, you wouldn't be the first ship to attempt to break the blockade by pretending to be with the EETC and sadly I doubt you'll be the last. Now if you'd be so kind as to save us some time and...er..." The blue jacketed pony took the papers being held out to him. Setting it on a barrel he flicked through the pages, each page the look of shock and confusion grew greater. Eventually he turned back to a very smug looking Captain Mormont. "For the record I still don't believe you, but since it isn't up to me..."
"I'll be expecting a letter from your commander giving me, my ship and crew the permission to observe the blockade as well as interview anypony - military or otherwise - regarding the blockade; sound fair?" Giving them no answer the officer glowered at the Captain before turning and jumping back onto his own ship. Everyone watched at the frigate slid gracefully away from "The Good Sir", as soon as it was out of ear shot the gathered crew breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Playing it a little gung ho Captain?" Crosswing asked
"You may say 'gung ho', Crosswing, but I say confident." The smug pony replied.
"I'd say arrogant if you ask me, and that's just me being polite." A very sombre looking Beeter spoke.
"Ah Beets, your brilliant sense of humour never ceases to amaze me" Mormont energetically bounced over to his 'boring' first mate "we're close to being one of the first pirates to break an Equestrian blockade and you're standing there all sad like!"
"First, I think you'll find that Equestrian blockades have been run since they were implemented. Second, you still haven't told us the full plan, for all I know you plan to have us fly into Myloria or something like that once we're done!" Beeter joked.
"Why my dear Beets, that is exactly the plan!"
"Wait... WHAT! You're kidding... right?!"
"Calm down Beets, only through the mountain range that separates our two countries; perfectly safe."
Crosswing tapped Mormont on his shoulder "Err.. Captain, sorry if I butt in but... aren't those ranges filled with griffins... aggressive ones?"
"Yeah and not to mention the fact that going through those mountains means coming within wing-flight distance of Canterlot."
"Ahhh... are the 'ikcle 'wickle fillies scared of some big angry birds and a few shiny toy soldiers?" Mormont asked patronisingly "it's either that or fighting our way out of a blockade so how about we trust my plan and enjoy our success hmm...?"
Beeter turned and walked away mumbling angrily under his breath "The last time you said that we had a larger ship..."
----- An author's note -----
Well this is my second chapter (and thus second attempt) at writing. It's taken a while due to IRL stuff and because my ideas are all messed up but it's here. I'm not massively happy with it but I think I'm getting the hang of writing and redrafting now so hopefully (fingers-crossed) chapter 3 will be good.
As usual C&C is greatly welcomed.
Thanks for reading!
