When the Silent Roam

Chapter – 2

Day one - The Storm

         Shuur and the Elements were lead deeper into the bowels of the ship by Sky Breeze, a light blue Pegasus with a cloud being shoved by a breeze as his Cutie Mark. The grey metal walls of the ship were lined with rivets and the occasional light. Shuur really didn’t mind it, it reminded him of his days aboard space cruisers, of course, they were in space then, and not over the land of an unexplored planet.

         “And here we are, room A-1 Shuur ‘Makhanee. The rest of your rooms are all lined up here, remember this floor ladies and gentlemen, these are the crew quarters after all.”

         Shuur turned his attention to the large wooden door embedded into the wall. It had steel hinges and a brass knob, almost like his old house. He watched the others find their rooms before entering. He twisted the golden orb and threw away the wood portal to reveal his room.

         It was a little underwhelming, the walls were the same drab color, and there was a small bed in the center of the room. The room itself was only about ten feet across. At least there was a window revealing the outside world, easing up on the claustrophobia lined in the walls. He set his backpack on the floor beside the bed; the room lacked any sort of real furnishings, only a bed and another door that he presumed lead to a bathroom. The window was more of a port hole being only a few inches in diameter and lined with rivets itself.

Only one window…I’ve had worse at least. he silently thought to himself. The room was more like a prison than a living space. Oh dear, how was Rarity holding up?

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         Twilight looked over the room, it wasn’t so bad, it had a small bookshelf near the bed.  The bed itself looked comfortable enough. She really wished that they could get some more furnishing in here, though the room was rather small, they probably couldn’t fit anything else in it. Oh well, she could make the best of it. Oh dear, how was Rarity doing?

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         Rainbow Dash looked over the small room, it wasn’t exactly what she called awesome, but it would do. She jumped into the air and landed in the bed, which bounced her out immediately. Whoa, now that was fun! She continued the activity until an idea popped into her head, in which case caused her to fall over laughing. How was Rarity doing?

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         Fluttershy gently placed her bags down beside the bed. The room was nice enough, she supposed. It could do with another window at least, not that she would say anything, she wouldn’t want to seem greedy after all. Then she heard some sort of rustling behind her. She turned around to see her bag explode slightly and reveal a small white rabbit sticking his head out of the left pouch.

         “Angel? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be back at Ponyville with Carrot Top.”

         The small rabbit simply shook his head before bouncing over to her and landing on her back.

         “O-Okay then, I guess you can come, but no leaving the ship, I wouldn’t want to see you hurt.”

He nodded in response, pounding a foot on her back repeatedly.

“Oh right, I had better check on Rarity.” She said, slowly trotting out of the room.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

Applejack looked over room; it was drab grey metal wall to wall, a small window in the center of the opposite partition and a bed on the farthest wall, the blue covers made her smile though.

         “Well this ain’t so bad, though ah can’t see how Rarity is gonna stand living here.”

         She chuckled a little at the thought of how Rarity was holding up. She cantered inside; slipping the heavy bags off her shoulders and onto the floor, a little inconvenient that there was no nightstand, which would have been nice. Oh well, might as well head topside for some fresh air.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         Pinkie lined up her sights, pushed a tiny button and fired confetti and paint all across the room. She smiled triumphantly at her handy work; the room was now covered in pink paint, confetti and streamers.

         “Perfect!” she exclaimed, storing her party cannon away and bouncing on the bed, which so very super soft and bouncy. She continued bouncing around hoping that Fluttershy could carry Rarity into her room.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         Rarity had long since fainted; her room was the farthest away, meaning no one had seen her. She lay upon the cold metal floor; a nightmarish void consumed her mind. Nothing but the nightmares of a horrible room she was to stay in filled her head. Good thing they were just nightmares, right… Right?

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         Coal stack sat in his captain chair in the helm, the second highest point on the ship. The highest being the crow’s nest. He surveyed the crew, each was looking over small dials and gages, making sure everything stayed in working order. A chestnut brown earth pony walked up beside him, demanding attention.

         He turned towards the stallion, “Ah, Doctor, good ta see yah lad. I for the life of me will never understand why your name is Doctor, but you are ta be our navigator. What news do you bring?”

         The Doctor pulled out a small chart and reading glasses, “We are approaching the continental border; soon we will be over the oceans and into the unknown!”

         Coal stack smiled, why The Doctor had yelled that he didn’t care “Good, she’s running beautifully. Attention all crew, prepare to test our waterproofing, make sure that rear door is closed!”

         Parts of the crew shouted “Aye Captain!” and began scrambling about.

         He turned back to The Doctor, “Thank ye Doctor, that’ll be all.”

         “Right, bye.” he said, trotting off to wherever he stayed.

Coal stack didn’t even remember him receiving a room, or even if they had a navigation room. Whatever, he wasn’t his problem now, time to test out their flyn’ boats ability to be a floatin’ boat. The ability was a failsafe, if they ever need to cut down on energy, they could land her on water or even land. The bottom was mostly flat, so it just required a setoff landing gear and the engines still allowed for water travel.

         A yellow unicorn mare marched up to him, “Sir, we are ready to begin water transfer.”

         He smiled, “Excellent, thank you Morning Shimmer.”

         She saluted before trotting back to her station. Coal stack stood from his chair, walking up to the varnished steering wheel and a few silver levers. He promptly pulled the lever closest to the wheel, causing a faint whine to sound as the ship began its descent. Coal Stack smiled, this was what he lived for, to feel the ship, such a mighty vessel to obey your every command and follow your orders to the point of a pin.

         “50 meters… 40… 30… 20… 10 meters captain!”

         Coal Stack pushed the lever a ways ahead, causing the same whine to heard, this time at a higher frequency. The ship leveled out and began flying a few meters above the sparkling ocean. Coal stack pulled slowly on the middle lever and the ship began to decrease speed. Even from so far above, he could hear the water being thrown into waves as they began to descend into the green sea.

         “Five seconds until cruising speed!” he heard a voice cry out. But he already knew that, he had studied hard to pilot this beauty, he knew every angle and speed required for ever maneuver and mode. This was HIS ship, and he controlled her.

         He moved one of his hooves pressing it against a small floor panel.

         “Captain, our engines just shut down!”

         He smirked, “I know ya wingnut, I just shut ‘em down. We’re taking a breather, ya know, look around ‘n see what there is ta see before moving on.”

         Coal Stack heard some chatter, but soon everypony moved near a window or made their way downstairs to the outside. But not him, he had his captain chair and what he could see above all else. The others could look about; see Equestria for the last time and all. He was happy with his ship; it sustained a crew of forty plus and had rooms to spare. One magical engine ran on the spirit of Starswirl and guns big and hot enough to melt metal. Oh, and the shield was nice, a big ol’ bubble surrounding the ship. It could take about 3 seconds of dragon fire, two cannon blasts and protected them from the elements. It was more of a luxury than anything necessary. Oh, and he was supposed to tell Shuur what was running it, for his approval. Not that Coal Stack was about to let that eight foot tall lizard touch his ship.  If he didn’t like it, too bad.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         The Doctor trotted back into a storeroom, in which now housed a large blue box. His blue box. He really didn’t like being ordered around, in fact he hated it. But, Ditzy said she wanted a vacation where they actually travelled, and one she could see out windows. So, upon hearing about there being an exploration, she begged him to take them on it.

         He of course refused.

         But, with his daughters big eye’s, and Ditzy’s even bigger crossed ones, he broke. Now they were aboard a ship that travelled only about 80 knots, he materialized on different planets! Why would she want him to take her on a planet wide cruise if they could go to different galaxies! He would never understand her, but he still loved her.

         To Shuur and his friends, it had been a year, for him, four years. He had since fell in love, something he vowed never to do, and had a kid! A child for pete’s sake! Not that it was his; Ditzy had a previous unicorn lover, who promptly left her with the foal when she received a head injury that made her wall eyed. Ungrateful bugger… Anyway, now he was stuck with the job of navigation, which he did excellently in his opinion.

         He beat his hoof against the floor three times, and the door’s opened. He loved that, ever since he figured out that hooves could beat against the floor in place of snapping he had neglected to use of a key.

         He stepped inside her, his blue box. That good old TT type 40 TARDIS that never failed, occasionally. He still had the console where as he had met Amy Pond. He loved it; it also had some good memories tapered into the very core of her. He had met his TARDIS in person here, and he still never pulled the door open, always pushed them. She was indestructible, traveled time and space as well as dimensions apparently.

He found out that Humans were no longer the species he’s known and loved, they had grown up as a different branch of the tree. Turns out, they were fighting a religious alliance known as the Covenant. As it also happened, Shuur was once part of this alliance.

         Of course, the day they met when Ditzy flew into him, he thought nothing of it. If he helped the ponies, then whatever. When he discovered the Covenant, he tried to find and get rid of Shuur, only to find out that Shuur had saved the planet instead of him. He forgave Shuur, then also found out that he was learning to live like a pony, in which lead the Doctor on a laughing spree. A Sangheili, live like a pony? It was like a Dalek that learned about emotions, it made him laugh. That was another thing; some of the species in this universe were like ponified versions of his previous enemies, except the Daleks never showed. Neither did the Time Lords, which had actually quite disturbed him.

         “Doctor!” yelled Ditzy, who then flew and hugged him.

         “Agh, Ditzy, I was gone for about five minutes. You couldn’t have missed me that much.”

         She let go, “I know, but this is just so exciting! We’re actually going on a proper holiday! No vanishing here, materializing there, just a good old fly around Equis. It’s wonderful, really, I know how much you hate actual travel, so thanks honey.”

         “You’re welcome Ditzy, now, where is little Dinky?” he said, looking around control room.

         “She’s taking a nap after her magic lesson. She’s doing so well; I can’t believe how far she has progressed.”

         “Oh, okay then. I just know that she like amphibians, so I thought she would like to see the first sentient species The Leviathan meets, they’re a-”

         Ditzy cut him off, “Look, don’t spoil it for me! I want to find out normally.” She said, almost flustered.

         “I don’t understand what it is about your normal so lately; I thought you loved TARDIS travel.” The Doctor responded, “You couldn’t get enough, ‘let’s go here, let’s go there, and when.’ Where did that go?”

         She smiled, “Oh I do, but every now and then we all need a break, even TARDISes.”

         Ditzy flew up by the console, “Huh girl? We all need a break every now and then.”

         The Doctor just smiled warmly, it was cute that she thought the TARDIS needed a break, not that she did. The TARDIS could travel across the universe and back and not need a break, so travelling every now and again wasn’t going to hurt her. Oh well, he supposed it was a little nice, and having Ditzy around made it all the better.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

Shuur searched the room a bit more thoroughly; he sat beside the bed as a small notch on the wall caught his attention.  He pushed a finger on it, finding it to be a button. There was a hiss and click behind him. He turned around to find part of the floor had opened up and a glass case was slowly rising from the floor like a ramp. He walked up to it, finding his armor inside.  Why would they hide it? Oh well, better put it on, get into the adventuring mood and all. He flicked away the brass lock that stopped him from receiving his reward. He began replacing the armor, but noticed something rather disturbing.  His helmet wasn’t present. Where was his helmet? He began to search the room more completely, hoping to find another hidden room or button.

When his search bore no fruit, he returned to what remained of his armor.

A HUD and proper shields would help him; then again, not much could even scratch the armor. Nothing on this planet at least. The armlets felt a little different, like they were bulging slightly. He strapped on the leggings, pneumatics fitting it properly. The armored boots fit as well, just the way he liked it. He looked over the chest piece, seeing that it had another part strapped onto the back that definitely wasn’t Covenant build. It was too bulky; it almost looked out of place, just another bulge with glowing lights. He strapped that on as well; hissing marked the resealing of the armor. Shoulders, check, armlets, check, chest piece, check, leggings, check, boots, check, helmet that usually ran the system check for him, negative. Oh well, there were worse things to happen to him. Just then, the ship began to make a decent, seemingly at random. He looked out the window to reveal that they were already over an ocean; glittering and sparkling in the afternoon sun’s rays.

         He decided to take a closer look on the surface, perhaps even catch a last glimpse of the mainland.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         A small black head popped out of the left barrel of the main cannon, looking frantically to make sure that every pony had gone back inside the ship. After confirming so, it wriggled back down the tube to make a plan.

         “Okay, what to do, what to do… I can’t just run out there, they’ll throw me overboard! And I can’t stay in here, what if they use it! I need a better plan; this was not a good idea.”  The black thing said, completely camouflaged in the guns darkness. In hindsight, sneaking aboard the really big airship just because it was leaving Equestria was a bad idea. Now he was stuck in a gun barrel, with a broken wing and not enough magic left to disguise himself. Not the best thought through plan at all.

         “Okay okay, okay… what to do, what to do… GAH! This is getting me nowhere!” he cried in frustration.

         “What in tarnation, who’s up there!” hollered a not so distant southern voice.

         “Uuum, no one!” he replied.   ‘Idiot idiot idiot! You just answered!’

         “Uh-huh, ah might not be th’ sharpest of th’ garden tools, but ah can tell when yer lyin’. Now get down ‘ere!”

         “No!” he yelled back, voice echoing off the solid metal. “Ow, my ears…”

         “Land sake, I ain’t gonna kick ya or nothin’, ya’ll just shouldn’t be in a giant gun!”

         “Y…you promise not to kick me?” ‘Fool, don’t fall for their pony lies!’

         “Course ah ain’t, why would I do that?” the voice sounded rather bewildered at his question.

         “Or throw me overboard, or hit me, or blast me, or k-kill me?”

         “Now why in Celestia’s name would we do that? Wait, are you some sorta  national villain or somethin’?”

         “Maybe…” ‘Gah, you’re hopeless! No wonder they kicked you out of the hive!’

         “Now come on down ‘ere, before ah get one a those gun shooter ponies to haul ya out the rear!”

         Checkmate, “Alright alright! Just, don’t kick me over board, please.”

         The black mass in the barrel shuffled ahead slowly, wriggling his way to the front of the cannon. He stopped when he was just at the top, should he really? She had him at them opening the rear door and dragging him out, but maybe he could escape while she went for them? Worth a shot.

         “On second thought, I think I like it in here.” he said rather smugly.

         “Oh fer, if you don’t come down right now mister, ah’ll personally remove that there gun with mah hooves!”

         Yah right, “Let’s see you try pony. Go ahead, try.”

         He could hear muttering and the sound of hoof steps approaching. He heard them stop just in front of the cannon, hehehe, silly pony, the guns were solid steel, she would hurt herself pretty bad trying to-

         BONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

         The entire barrel vibrated and the black thing inside was shook around roughly, further damaging his wing.

         BONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

         The pony struck the guns base again, causing a shock wave to course through the barrel and nearly deafen the victim inside.

         BONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

         “ALRIGT ALRIGHT, I’M COMING OUT!!! JUST PLEASE STOP THE KICKING!!!” he cried in anguish.

         “Ow, thought so, ow, better get down ‘ere or ah’ll, ow, start again… Ow.”

         He shuffled further ahead, crawling towards the daylight. This was it, now or never. He pushed himself a little further, and his head breached the top.

         “Uh, hehe, hi.” said the Changeling.

         “Figures, ow, a Changeling. Now why don’t you clamber on back down here and tell me, ow, exactly what yer doin’ aboard.”

         He moved a little further, popping out a holey hoof. He hooked one of the holes around the edge, and then forced himself out further, sliding the rest of the way. The momentum was caught on his hoof, causing him to swing slightly, do a backflip, and then drop the ten feet to the deck unharmed.

         “Ta-da! Mirrors Edges at your service ma’am.  What is it you require?”

         “Not buying th’ whole nice guy act Mirrors, now what ‘n tarnation’s is a Changeling doin’ aboard an Equestrian ship?” she prodded.

         “Hehe, sorry. Now the answer to your question, I am an outcast; I’m too honest or obeying to be a very good Changeling. I was kicked out of the hive for my twentieth mission failure, not a very good score.”

         The orange pony in the old hat snickered.

         “What’s so funny eh? You’re a pony, which should be insult enough.”

         “It’s just that yer a Changeling that ain’t very good at being a Changeling. And what do you mean, ‘insult enough?”

         Mirrors Edges huffed, “I mean that ponies are lying creatures that will stop at nothing to insult or judge you.”

The pony looked appalled, “What do ya mean, Equestria is th’ most kind an’ lovin’ country there is!”

He pointed a hoof at her, “You see, right off the bat! You’re lying about your own country already! The only pure ones are supposed to the Elements of Harmony, and I don’t see an Element on you.”

         The pony shook her head, “What are they teachin’ you in yer hives? That we’re evil?”

“Mostly, yes.” He replied nonchalantly.

Applejack stared at him in disbelief, “Well that’s a load of horse apples. Equestria is the nicest place that can be found this side of Equis.” she said proudly.

         “So you’re admitting that there are nicer places eh?”

         “W-What? Well, ah don’t know. We haven’t seen any other places yet so no one knows.”

         “Uh-huh, I’m going to assume that continuously bashing my hiding place was just your nearest option, which nearly left me deaf by the way.”

         “Well ahm real sorry mister, but you are a stowaway on a flyin’ Equestrian airship.”

He smiled sheepishly, “Ehehe, sorry for that by the way, I just really needed to get out of the country full of lying ponies, who MIGHT not have been lying ponies at all.”

         She smiled, “Ah can assure you that we aren’t lyin’ varmints like you have been told, nearly all Equestrians are real swell ponies, or aliens.”

         “Ha! You see, you said aliens, your lying!”

“What’s all the ruckus up here? Applejack, who is that? And why does he have holes all drilled into him?”

Mirrors Edges froze, just down the deck was an eight foot tall, armored, alien.

The pony turned her head toward it, “Oh, hey Shuur, ah found this here stowaway in one of the gun barrels, he thinks us all lyin’ monsters.”

Shuur sized up the tiny holed bug thing, noting that one of its wings was crumpled, “Let’s see here, black body, holed appearance and has both wings and horn, let me guess, a Changeling.”

Applejack nodded, “Eeyup, won’t believe a word ah say, he’s been taught to think us all lying food sources.”

Shuur chuckled, “Really now, are you so sure little Changeling? I’d say you’re too low on power to change forms and a broken wing most likely from squeezing into a gun barrel. You can’t fly away, and you can’t hide anywhere else because of the shear amount of ponies, you are stuck, and we’re about to take off again.”

The Changeling simply continued to shake, “A-alien… alien… ALIEN!” he suddenly screamed and began to run away.

He got about four feet before he was enveloped in a red aura.

“Whoa now, we wouldn’t want any other crew to find out about you, chances are that the events of Canterlot haven’t been so well forgotten by everybody else.”

“Ye-yes sir, of course sir, I will never leave your sight sir.” The Changeling continued to shiver, dead afraid of the monster in front of him as he was sucked towards it by magic.

Shuur chuckled again, “I can see your afraid, worry not little changeling, I have no weapons and I wouldn’t dream about harming you, so long as you harm nobody else. Otherwise, you’ll be nothing but a boiling puddle of plasma, is that clear?”

The Changeling nodded rapidly, not wanting to further enrage the giant.

“Of course, I’ll stick with you. Oh and, my wing was broken before, when I got kicked out. Standard procedure to make sure that I don’t spread secrets among our prey, I also had my magic drained.”

Shuur raised a brow, “Then how did you get aboard, the hallways would be too dangerous to just walk inside, and you have a broken wing pre-flight, so how?” he queried.

Mirrors Edges smiled proudly, “I’m well trained in the art of parkour, self-trained in fact, I didn’t use my wings that often, too many types of ponies without them. It’s actually rather fun.”

Shuur was again confused, “Parkour, never heard of it.”

The Changelings eyes widened, “Really? My goodness you would be great, given that your arms and legs are strong. If not, well, don’t try and jump from the top of trees, you might die.”

“Heh, I am plenty strong, Changeling, but you still haven’t explained the concept.” he said slightly annoyed that he would be good at something he knew nothing about.

Mirrors Edges smiled, “Parkour, my new friend is the art of fast movement over urban terrain. Like jumping from building to building, or scaling walls and the like. There isn’t a lot of place to train in the hive, too cramped and slippery, but a city, oh hoho, a compressed city is every parkour’s dream land.”

Shuur set down the Changeling, “Very well, show me how you got into a tight gun barrel then.”

Mirrors Edges smiled, “Maggots play.”

He ran straight at the gun, but just before contact, he moved his front legs up slightly and jumped with surprising strength. His hooves caught onto the six foot tall base then he pulled himself up in one motion, continuing to run up the length of the barrel with precise balance. When he neared the edge, he slowed slightly and turned around, letting himself hang down over the edge, then swung inside of the cannon's barrel.

His head popped out again, “See, piece… of cake…” he said, panting.

Shuur crossed his arms, “Doesn’t seem like it, the event was satisfying, while the result is less than desired.”

Mirrors Edges frowned, “Let’s see you go without food for two days, then try that, it isn’t easy.”

Shuurs eyes widened, “Two days without food, and you did that? Well now I’m impressed, such a small creature, that must have been challenging.”

He smiled in return, “Not at all, now if you’ll excuse me, I believe that I’m too tired to get myself out. If you could find someone to be friends with, or perhaps someone to love, I would be grateful.”

Shuur frowned.  Great; he had gone and gotten the Changeling stuck. “Just a second, I’ll get you down, I’m sure that some of the ponies onboard wouldn’t mind having a little more diversity in their friendship.”

The Changeling just nodded silently, looking a little under the weather. It was hard to tell when his entire frame was black, and he was covered in hard carapace, but it was obvious he wasn’t at one-hundred percent.

Shuur closed his eyes and focussed on Mirrors Edges, grabbing the small creature with his telekinesis. There it was again, that odd humming and the feeling he was being powered, he felt stronger than usual. The Changing slid free with ease, popping comically out of the cannon’s barrel.

He slung the near unconscious Changeling over his shoulder, making sure he was secure; he began to move for the cabin.

“Hey, uh Shuur?” began Applejack, “Was that hummin’ glowy light thing always on yer back?”

Shuur looked over his shoulder, not an easy feat mind you, his shoulder plates reached above the top of his head.

“No, I noticed that before, you said it was the cause of the humming?”

Applejack nodded, “It wasn’t doin’ much until ya used yer magic, then it lit up like a lantern in the middle of th’ night.”

Shuur looked it over the best he could, “Well then, I believe I have a new question for Princess Luna.” he said, bewildered by the protrusions true purpose.

They marched inside, just as Shuur noticed some clouds moving their direction, dark ones. The kind that made little children fear for their lives and cower beneath beds, the kind that sank ships. They needed to rise out of the ocean, and soon, being caught in a storm wouldn’t be a wise course of action.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

A monster stirred beneath the waves, something had disturbed it from its precious slumber. It looked up, finding a huge boat hull floating on the surface. A large mistake.  None disturbed it from its century slumber and lived, or left unscathed. It spread wing-like fins and swept its massive finned tail back and forth, guiding it with millennia of experience. It would strike fast, and then tear it in two, feasting on the ships inhabitants. This was its world, none others; and it would justify all trespassing with death.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

         Princess Luna sat in the helm, looking over the ponies working the various dials and gages. She had to admit, the royal ship master and the engineer ponies had outdone themselves. Her seat was near the captains, which was on a high rise allowing all to be seen. It wasn’t that big a room, enough for twenty ponies or so. Each had a purpose, each had a responsibility.

         She smiled; this was truly Equestria’s mightiest vessel, rivalling a shipment boat in size, and the Plasmass cannons packed enough power to punch a hole through anything, if a little costly to use. That was why she had some smaller, more renewable weaponry packed into the ship. If the foe was too fast for the main guns and rear guns, then they used smaller magical blasters atop the helms roof to take them out. An anti-air measure she herself had invented millennia ago, of course, with the abandonment of warfare, her designs were scrapped, so she had to pull out thousands of years old memories to remake them.

         They took very little power to run and were relatively accurate, though could do with some improvement.

Just then, a huge force shook the ship, followed by a below sea roar.

“What was that!?!” she heard Coal Stack yell.

A pony turned to face them, “I don’t know sir, but whatever it was just brought the shields down by thirty percent.”

Coal Stack grumbled, “Well then, it wants a fight eh? So be it, get our Cloud Crystal matrix online, I want use out of the water and into th’ air in forty seconds! Ya hear?

“Aye Captain.” the pony replied.

“Alrighty then, stop standin’ around ‘nd send word to the gunners th’t we have ourselves a fight!”

The pony saluted, then ran down the exit to inform the cannon crew.

The ship shuddered again as whatever was attacking them pounded the shields with mighty blows. It was beginning to irk Luna.

She stood up, “I will see that the rest of the crew knows of our situation, and also see if I can join in the defense.”

Coal Stack tipped his hat, understanding that there was no changing the night goddesses mind.  He had tried before, and had a new found fear for the princess afterward. Though he did think high of her, there was no time to sit upon ceremony, something big was attacking, and they needed every bit of firepower they could get.

A low hum sounded from deep in the bowels, Coal Stack smiled as the ship began to rise slightly. He took hold of the controls, flipping the already familiar levers and forced the ship to rise higher at a much quicker rate. A low roar was heard, muffled by the sea as whatever monster was attacking them rose up to strike again. The ship shuddered more violently as its airborne state was much more open to a loss of balance. A thunderous splash was heard below as the creature fell back beneath the raging waves.

Coal Stack saw cracks forming at the edge of the shield, marking its nearing destruction.

“What in the name of all that’s good is that thing?!” he yelled out.

None of his crew had an answer, as it jumped from the waves again, always below their field of vision. Another shudder and audible cracks were heard, one more hit and they were vulnerable. Coal Stack hit the throttle and they shot forward. The seemed world to shake as water was chasing them took to the air. When they were far enough, Coal Stack forced them to turn towards the mighty beast so their cannons may do some good. Then they actually saw what they were up against.

An enormous creature hovered a distance away. It was covered in massive green scales that gleamed with the afternoon sun and teeth that sparkled like huge pearls. It was so large in fact; Coal Stack ventured a guess that it rivaled the size of Manehattan’s Empire Country building.

Its giant black glass orbs were staring directly at them, malice and hatred filled the huge pools that were its eyes.

It could easily swallow us whole… thought Coal Stack.

Coal Stack shook his head, “All cannons, FIRE!”

One of the ponies shook his head as well, clearing his mind he pushed a button on his console.

Soon, the ship rocked back and forth as the ends of the barrels became balls of light. The orbs travelled slowly compared to a cannon ball, but they were true to their mark as they landed blows on the colossal sea serpent that lay before them.

It screeched in pain, not expecting the tiny projectiles to hurt so much. As its scale glowed a red hot and even a few dislodged themselves, it dove back under the waves, trying to escape the ungodly flaring pain it was feeling.

A chorus of cheers were heard, but Coal Stack stood frowning.

One of his crew stepped up to him, “Do you think we scared it off?”

Coal Stack looked down at him, “No, we just made it angry.”

The pony gulped, but nodded and returned to his place among the others.

Coal Stack knew better than to tangle with an actual Leviathan. Luckily, it seemed this one was younger and had not yet grew in its tentacles. A sharp crack sounded, as if the world itself had been torn. Coal Stack stared out the front window and what he saw disturbed him even more.

It was the teen Leviathan again, but it was doing something that scared the wits out of him. It was guiding the storm that was at least a half an hour away towards them. The cracking sound was the lightning that had struck dangerously close to the bow, as the storm was almost above them now. Coal Stack swore he could see it smiling,  the gales it conjured rocking the ship as well.

“All hands, brace for turbulence!” he yelled out loud.

Another thunderous clap joined the last, then another and another. Coal Stack realized something; he was flying his ship into a huge storm! He did his best to pull up, but another crack of lightning brought itself down upon their shields. He watched in horror as the pink bubble shattered, little bits fizzling out of existence.

He heard the doors for the helm open up, a large bipedal figure entering with great haste. He scowled as he climbed the staircase to his rise in the room.

“What is it Shuur, can’t you see, and feel, that I am in the middle of something!”

The alien stopped and nodded, “I know, but I just realized that this ship is using old model burst shields.”

Coal Stack scoffed, “Old for you, a massive push in our technology for us.”

Shuur again agreed, “But, that means you’re using power coils to help heat and transfer quick energy for the shields, correct?”

Coal Stack said nothing, but nodded as he tried to dodge another bolt.

“Well then, couldn’t you use a ten second energy stock to quick start them, as well as keeping the engines online?”

Coal Stack turned around, anger in his Shetland face, “Y’u know that th’ energy would back up, melt th’ coils and then set off our reactor, leaving us all for a hot, melted death!”

Shuur raised a hand, “But what if you fired the energy towards the cloud crystals and the main engines in staggered progression, then use the buildup to fire them to a higher level?”

Coal Stack stood quiet for a moment, “That’s… That’s bloody brilliant!” he said, turning back to his levers, “It w’uld fire us out of the cl’ud and bring us back our shield while keepin’ the coils cool enough to last!”

He turned back to the Sangheili, “If I wasn’t th’ pony I was, I’d kiss ya!”

Shuur smiled weakly, “Just focus on the shields.”

Coal Stack nodded, turning back to his crew, “Alrighty, you heard the split head! Charge those coils, ten seconds, staggered two second bursts to the clouds crystals and main engine!”

Shuur cringed as the use of the term ‘split head’ was used, he wanted to strike the pony something terrible, but held back as Coal had no knowledge to its other meaning. Shuur watched as some ponies scrambled and tampered with the not so complicated controls, a steady whine building up that got lower every two seconds, then rose again. It sounded like the ship was breathing.

“Ready!” yelled a voice.

Coal Stack felt a vein show itself on his face, “If you value your life, then you would have already fired it!”

The pony nodded, pushing down hard on the small blue button, nestled among a jungle of others.

The ship lurched, a faint pinkish aura gathering about the exterior and a loud roar of the engines was heard even from the helm. The clouds became streaks as they fired at speeds to rival the lightning that was assaulting them.

Shuur held his breath as the clouds didn’t break, but then he noticed them getting lighter in color. Soon, the rumbling of the storm was below them as they rose. A soft pocket of light breached their cloud like shielding, forcing him to cover his eyes.

His eyes stopped burning after a few minutes, allowing him to remove his hand from his face. He saw others doing the same and all began to look out the windshield. He felt a smile grace his maw as the sun had lowered itself slightly and was casting the most beautiful shadows on the cloud below. It made for a very appealing view; tingling his senses as he saw the clouds move and shape themselves in the high sky breezes, shadows following in a harmonious dance that spanned as far as the eye could see.

Shuur listened as Coal Stack sighed in relief, “I’ll put her into a lock, we all deserve a rest after that little encounter.”

Shuur nodded in agreement as the old horse attached a few slabs of wood to the wheel, locking it in place. He did similar acts to the levers that controlled speed and height, then turned and began to make a descent on the stairs. Shuur followed suit, though it was a bit of trouble for his large feet compared to the ponies’ small hooves, as that was what the stairs were designed for.

As they reached the bottom, a group of them were heading downstairs to the mess hall no doubt, while others were heading outside to see he magnificent sights of the new world.

Shuur smiled as they went, Just wait until they get into space. he thought to himself.

The things that the universe had to show were beyond incredible; just the sights in the galaxy were enough to blow minds. Shuur joined Coal Stack down stairs in the mess hall, a room just larger than the helm that could house all of the crew for their meals. Right now was a time of celebration, as Shuur could see large casks being moved out, and wooden mugs brought from the cabinets.

He smelled the now familiar smell of cider touch his nostrils, he had been there at the Apple Family’s cider season event last year, these ponies love their cider. He smiled at the memory, the taste of the fermented apple juice reminded him that apples in their most whole state weren’t the only way to eat/drink them.

He lost Coal Stack in the crowd. As he searched for the old pilot,  he saw him coming back carrying two mugs of cider on his back.

He hoofed one to Shuur, “After what y’u did today, ya undergrown dragon, ya deserve this.”

Shuur grinned and took the mug, “Just one, this stuff does things to me.”

Coal Stack chuckled, “Alright, to Equestria!” he cheered, raising his mug.

Shuur joined the flurry of voices, each yelling the same thing, “TO EQUESTRIA!”

They drank down the mugs and went back for more, save for Shuur, who just smiled and thought, Well at least things are off to a good start.

He continued to join in the festivities that followed, and only wished that he had as much fun with the Covenant.