The Sound of Thunder- Tempest

Festering Nightmare

Part I

-=-=-=-

23 Drizztember, 1001 AD

0312, NCST

The night lay heavily over Trinity. The moon shone down upon the glittering waters, and all was at peace.

All except for the airship many hundreds of meters above the ocean's surface. There, the peace was false. A lie. The silence was a ruse, lulling the crew of the great Nocturnal Thunder airship  into a feeling of security. Of invincibility.

But it was not to last.

For unbeknownst to them, they were being followed. Far behind the great floating behemoth, a shadow flew swiftly through the air. But this was no ordinary shadow. A ship, crafted from the fossilized remains of an ancient black dragon, and crewed by the rotting remains of ponies, gryphons, and nagas alike. The dead crew of a dead ship, captained by a being of pure hatred. Hell incarnate. And they were headed right for the Nocturnal Thunder. As the wind whipped through the ragged sails, the crew gnashed their teeth, and readied their blades. They would eat well tonight.

There was no warning when the first cannon fired. Just the sound of death as a legion of the damned boarded the great airship. The captain of the crew smiled as his men rushed forward. Finally, the reckoning was upon that accursed Princess. Finally, he would show the world the power of Scorn, the Demon of the Sea.

Twilight Sparkle

Chief Navigator Twilight Sparkle woke from her restful slumber with a gasp as an earth shattering Crack! reverberated through her quarters.

Her hooves hit the deck, just as a voice yelled through the intercom, “ALL CREW TO BATTLE STATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I SAY AGAIN, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!”

The unicorn grimaced, levitating the shards of her Immortal Sword off the table beside her. A purple glow surrounded them, then assembled them into a short blade. The thuds of paws, the clip of hooves, and the crack of claws echoed down the hall. A small dragon on his cot in the corner bolted upright, a pair of cucumbers fell off his eyes as he sprung into awareness in his bed a few feet from Twilight’s cot.

“Twilight! What’s going on?” The edge of terror in the young one’s voice cut to Twilight’s very soul.

“Spike.” She looked her companion right in the eye as she tried to keep her own fear from breaking her voice, and made a snap decision. “Take your pillow and blanket and hide under my bed. Don’t come out for anyone except me.”

Her assistant nodded swiftly, fear fueling his movements. His wide eyes seemed half asleep, but Twilight knew that he was wide awake. “O-o-okay… But, you-you’re staying with me, r-right?”

Twilight started forming her reply, when the loud BANG! of some type of firearm sounded just outside their room.

“No, Spike. I have to go.” The mare rushed her words as she moved toward the door.

“B-but…”

“Spike. You have to be quiet,” Twilight whispered. “I don’t know what’s out there, but if the ship’s under attack, I have to get to the Princess. Just hide, and stay safe! I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Spike ran to her and embraced her with a hug. “Okay. But… Come back. I can’t lose you again.”

Twilight gave him a quick squeeze before the dragon darted under the bed. “I will, Spike. I will.”

With a gulp, Twilight gently pushed her door open. As she stuck her head out of her room, the noise of battle gently wafted to her ears. It seemed distant, but Twilight knew that was not the case. The thump and pitter of the hooves, feet, and claws gradually increased. She cocked her head to the left, listening intently down the hallway as they grew closer… and closer… and closer…

A door suddenly opened on the other side of the hall with a loud creak. Twilight gasped as she spun to face the four blurs that darted down the hallway toward her. Her glowing blade arced up, swinging toward the threat, but a shining purple barrier stopped the sword dead in its tracks.

“Twily!” The first blur stooped, and Twilight turned to gaze into the startling blue eyes of her brother.

“Sh-Shining? Wh-what?” Twilight barely managed to form the words as her heartbeat hammered in her ears.

The blue maned unicorn shook his head as he released his sister’s sword. “Ship’s under attack. Something’s happening.” Twilight could see the crackling energy provided by his adrenaline as she looked at him.

He glanced over his shoulder, shouting to the other three ponies who had entered the hallway with him. “See if anypony else is in here! We have to get any other crew that we can!”

Twilight quickly looked past her brother to the three others behind him. The first, a grey unicorn who had a pair of pistols levitated at his side, slowly opened the door to his left using his red magic. The red coated earth pony behind him moved into position at another door. The last one, a yellow coated pegasus bearing a sword in one hoof, kicked open the last door in the hallway.

Twilight snorted as she turned back to her brother. “‘Something’s happening.’ No, really?”

The unicorn shouted from the first room. “This one’s empty, Quartermaster!”

After jumping into the second room, the red earth pony bellowed in a loud feminine voice, “All clear, sir!”

From the last room emanated a thickly accented voice. “I dinnae see anypony here! Ooh, but there is a cat! Does tha’ count for som’thin?”

Shining nodded his head. “Alright, keep checking rooms!”

As the other three moved to the other quarters, Shining turned to Twilight. “I have no idea what’s going on Twily. I heard the intercom, but nothing else.” Shining levitated a small Communication Stone from his saddlebags. “I tried raising the Bridge on this, but there’s no response. Anyways, I came out of my quarters as these three came out of another one. We’ve been running through here to get anypony else who could help.”

“Hmm,” Twilight gazed quizzically at the stallion. “No clues as to who’s attacking?”

“No,” Shining shook his head. “Rooms clear?”

The three returned to his side, and the red coated mare spoke for them. “Nothing, sir. Checked all of them except this one. Nopony’s here.”

Twilight’s head jerked up. “Shining! Spike’s still in my room. What do we do? I don’t feel right just leaving him!”

The noise of the approaching steps and the agonized screams of death grew louder as the five ponies stood in the hallway.

With sweat dripping down his brow, Shining turned to the door. “I can’t let you stay here, Twily. We need to get to the Captain. You’re too powerful to leave here.”

Twilight opened her muzzle to argue, but Shining interrupted her. “But that doesn’t mean that we’ll leave him defenseless.” A bright purple light shot from his horn, surrounding Twilight’s room in a glowing shield.

“There. Let’s see them get through that.”

Twilight flashed a grin. “Thank you. That takes a load off.” Several thoughts ran through her mind. “Okay, if we’re heading to the bridge, I’ll need to know a few things.”

Her brother nodded.

Twilight looked to the three other ponies in the hallway. “Okay, I think saw you three when I had my tour the first day. But I’ll need your names, and skill set.”

Shining gazed at her sister. “Do you really think this is the time?”

Twilight glared back at him. “Shiny. You know me. I NEED to know who can do what, or our battle plan could be completely thrown off! If one of them specializes in a certain type of combat and we position them wrong, the consequ-”

“Okay, okay! Just make it quick! We don’t have time to waste!”

The first pony, the yellow pegasus, landed next to Twilight. He extended his hoof. “Lieutenant Commander Gleaming Cutlass, Equestrian Remnant Navy. I’m Sailing Master and your First Mate Navigator aboard.”

Twilight blinked as the pegasus smiled. “Aye, we’ll be working together quite a bit. If we make it out of here alive, that is. I specialize in hoof to hoof bladework.” He nodded to the unicorn. “You next.”

The grey pony lowered his levitated pistols as he gave the mare a curt nod. “Lieutenant Shadow Fire. I’m Second Mate Navigator aboard. Ranged specialization. I’m also good at making sandwiches, but I don’t think that’ll help much right now…”

The red mare shook her head. “You two and your jokes.” Snapping to attention, she spoke. “Major Rosy Overcoat. Equestrian Royal Marines. I’m Marine Liaison to Internal Security aboard the Thunder. I’m a fifth rank Percute Terrae silver sash martial artist.”

Twilight nodded back to all three of them. “Okay. Sailing Master Cutlass, swordwork, Second Mate Fire, sandwiches and pistols, and Major Overcoat, martial arts hoof to hoof. Got it. Now that the introductions are out of the way, who-”

A crashing sound interrupted the mare.

Cutlass shifted in the air beside the Quartermaster. “Sir, it sounds like whoever it is is gettin’ closer. I dinnae like our chances in this hallway. We need to move to a better position before-”

BAM!

The pegasus was cut off as the door out the other side of the hallway was literally blown open. Two lithe ratlike creatures walked into the hallway. The small part of Twilight’s brain that still functioned recognized them. Goblins. Ugly ones too.

In a split second, several things regestered. Goblins weren’t seen in  Remnant territory often… And certainly not just pairs. Goblin battle doctrine dictated squads of at least five. But what was even odder was the fact that these two hadn’t already attacked. It was almost as if–

“Geoffery! That’s ‘im! The shiny white one! Quick, quick! Shoot ‘im!” The first green skinned beast screamed at his compatriot as he raised his axe.

“Huh? Wha?” The second goblin, a much larger brown tinged one looked at his comrade. Although most goblins were a bit shorter than the average pony, this one stood head and shoulders above Twilight. With a rounded black cap on his head, a fully loaded pack on his back, and a massive blunderbuss in his hands, he would have been quite intimidating, if he were pointing the guns in the ponies’ direction. As Twilight saw this, she heard her allies springing into action.

“Wha’ you means, Jiminy? Which one is the white one?” The brown one, Geoffery, left the muzzle of his ferocious weapon pointed at the ground.

Shining Armor and the other unicorn sprang into the nearest open doorway. Using their magic, Shining wove a shield halfway down the hall, and Second Mate Fire levitated a pair of flintlock pistols from around the corner. Major Overcoat took off like a dart, blazing energy causing her hooves to glow a dull silver. Sailing Master Cutlass flew hot on her tail, his blade raised, and his one eye gleaming with fury. Twilight tried to move, but her hooves just wouldn’t cooperate.

“Geoffery! HE’S THE WHITE ONE! Like the color!”

Sudden understanding dawned upon the huge goblin. “OH! The color! Like, the combination of all the colors! Wait, the one with the white body, or the white hair? Because the white bodied one is hiding, and the white haired one is-”

“GEOFFERY! JUST SHOOT SOMETHING!”

The hulking brute brought his weapon to bear, but it was too late.

As the pegasus and earth pony neared the goblins, several things happened.

First, Shining dropped his barrier.

Less than a second later, two shots rang out. Both of Fire’s pistols rang out, knocking the blunderbuss and axe from the hands of the two monsters.

Overcoat slammed into Jiminy with the force of a herd of the legendary extinct buffalo.

Cutlass’ sword cleanly lopped the head from Jiminy’s idiotic partner.

Twilight stood dumbly in the center of the hallway. Fifteen seconds after it had begun, the fight was over. And Twilight hadn’t moved a muscle.

“Uhg.” Overcoat shook her head. “They’re fresh.”

“Fresh what?” Shining asked.

Sailing Master Cutlass grimaced. “Zombie. These idiots weren’t just goblins. They were featherin’ ZOMBIE goblins.”

Twilight felt herself form a smile. “No, they must have been ghouls. Zombies are mindless husks of their former selves, but ghouls retain their capability for independent thought, or lack thereof.”

A look of horror spread across Shining’s face. “No… It can’t be…”

Shadow Fire turned to him. “What is it sir?”

The white stallion closed his eyes. “Scorn.”

Twilight felt her jaw drop. “Scorn? The Demon of the Sea? Th-the Zombie Lord? Or, Ghoul Lord?”

“He’s not a zombie. He’s cursed. But yeah, him. We need to get to the bridge NOW.” Shining opened his eyes once more.

All the ponies gathered in the center of the room as Shining turned to the doorway. “Alright, here’s the plan. We run out that door, make our way to the main deck, and sprint to the bridge. The Princess will need us there,” he said.

Cutlass nodded. “Aye. And the next ones probably won’t be so stupid. We got lucky.”

Shining gave a sharp nod of approval. “Exactly. That’s why we’ll move fast. Now, Major, I want you up front-”

For the second time, the arrival of two more goblins cut one of the ponies off.

“THERE, THERE! GET THEM!”

Before Twilight could spin around, she heard the slamming feet of two charging beasts rushing toward her.

“DOWN!”

Twilight felt herself being shoved downward as Shadow Fire leapt over her. His pistols glowed bright red as they gathered magical energy.

The two goblins charged down the corridor, right at the ponies.

With a roar, the first goblin threw himself into the air straight at the fast reacting unicorn. As the pony fired his first pistol right into the face of the goblin, the tan monster’s blade cut a slice into his enemy’s side.

“Gah!”

Blood streamed down over Twilight as she rolled to the side.

“NO! TAKE THIS, YOU MUD SWIMMING NATHUSHA SPAWN!” With a mighty scream,Cutlass took to the air, his cutlass cleaving a bloody slash into the side of the first goblin.

Second Mate Fire fell beside Twilight, twitching feebly.

The second goblin, this one covered in a massive trenchcoat, gave a mighty gasp as a pair of strong earthpony legs crashed into him.

With the body of the first having been cleaved in twain, and the second enemy flying through the air, Twilight took the time to ready her blade.

Just as she brought it to bear, however, a second red flintlock pistol went off, sending a shot of magically infused lead firing at the second.

KABOOOOOOOM!

Instead of the splashing of blood, a nearly deafening explosion emanated from the body of the second goblin. As pieces of wooden planks flew through the air, Twilight opened her eyes and placed her hooves over her ringing ears. Waves of nausea filled her body as her vision blurred and all noise around her distorted. The whole world spun, with what was once the ground seeming to be the ceiling. A symphony of buzzing that seemed quite similar to a hive of bees filled her ears. She squinted through the dust and debris to see the other three ponies gathered over the fallen body of their comrade.

Shining Armor slammed his eyes shut, his horn shimmering and taking upon itself a glowing aura. A bright purple flash covered the fallen unicorn, and with a light pop, Shining released his magic. He stepped backward with a gasp.

The gash that had rent Fire’s side in two was no longer there. The red magic covering the flintlock pistols finally receded, causing both of the weapons to drop to the floor.

As Twilight stood to her hooves and tried to clear her ears, she looked over at what used to be the end of the hallway. Now, all that remained was a gaping hole in the hull, with a caved in space on the other side.

As her hearing finally returned, she heard the other ponies talking.

“.. the bloody Tartarus was that? He feathering exploded!”

“Goblin bomber. Wears an explosive vest into combat. They blow stuff up.” Rosy stood over the fallen unicorn, her eyes racing back and forth. It was obvious that she wasn’t thinking about bombers. “Shadow! Are you okay? Talk to me!”

Shining Armor wearily spoke. “It… It took all that I had left, but he’s healed. We’ll both be drained, but we’ll walk out of here. I just… need a moment…”

Shining fell to the ground, and the magical barrier surrounding Twilight’s quarters dissipated.

“Shining? SHINING!” Twilight half shouted as she stood over her brother. The prone unicorn stirred, his eyes opening.

“He won’t answer.” Shadow Fire’s voice sounded from down on the deck. “He got hit with healing backlash… Ugh…” The sailor rose shakily to his hooves. “He pumped too much into me. He’s a protector, not a healer. It cost him too much. He’ll be out a while… Could be minutes, could be hours…”

Major Overcoat stepped away from the unicorn, her hoof remaining on his shoulder for a second. “It’s good that you’re alright. But we don’t have hours! We need to get to the Bridge, and we can’t drag him along with us! What do we do?”

Just then, a buzzing sound emanated from the glowing Communication Stone beside the fallen Shining Armor. A crackled, slightly distorted voice rang out. "Hey Quartermaster you there? It's Joker, y'know the Helmspony? Sir this isn't the time to ignore your stone... or is it broken? I swear, Ana breaks everything she gives me beforehoof..."

The yellow coated pony glanced at Twilight. “You know how to work one of these things?”

Twilight gazed at the stone, her eyes narrowing. “I… think so…”

She tentatively reached a hoof out, tapping the stone twice.

“First Mate Helmspony Longsword, this is Chief Sparkle. Do you read me?”

A scream and a loud crash came through the small stone. "Yeah, I can hear you right as rain. Where's the Quartermaster? The Captain is going to throw a fit if he doesn't get here soon!"

Twilight glanced down at her brother. “Quarter Armor is currently incapacitated.”

A loud roar reached the unicorn’s ear. “Gah, geddoff! Well, then you need to get up here! We’re surrounded, and our Navigator’s heavily wounded! I’m flying blind up here, so come on!”

The stone’s transmission cut off abruptly.

Major Overcoat slowly turned to Twilight. “Well that settles it. We can’t wait for his backlash to stop. We’ve gotta go.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay. Which of you is in charge?”

Sailing Master Cutlass looked down at the fallen Quartermaster. “Well, with him out, chain of command falls to… You, lass.” He looked Twilight right in the eye. “As Chief Navigator, you’re up.”

Twilight blinked twice, staring the other pony in the eyes. Or, rather, eye. “Uh, but… I’m… Umm…”

The pegasus sighed. “Aye, you. But, if ya can’t do it, you can pass the buck to me.” He gazed intently at Twilight. “Ye’ve only been here two days, so I canne expect you to take all that responsibility right off the bat. If you can handle it though, I’ll follow ye to Tartarus and back.”

Twilight closed her eyes. “I… I can do it.”

Major Overcoat nodded. “Good. What’re your orders, ma’am?” The Major looked intently at her commanding officer.

Twilight looked at the three professionals, all gazing at her and awaiting her orders. Another pony may have been overwhelmed by the sudden influx of change. A lesser mare might have collapsed knowing that the ship that had seemed so safe a day ago was being torn apart by an army of the undead. A different student who had spent years studying and had never even been in a real fight before today may have given up.

But, even in the face of this, Twilight gave a grim smile. This is what she’d studied for years to be to accomplish. Her mind raced as she considered her options, and a quick plan seemed to formulate itself.

“We need to get to the bridge. Our easiest way there is cut off,” Twilight pointed a hoof at the collapsed hallway. “Our weapons are limited to two swords, two pistols, and Overcoat’s hooves. Do we have any first aid kits?”

Overcoat nodded. “In my saddle bag.”

“Good. We’ll probably need it later. Now, with that covered, here’s our issue. We have one pony down, one heavily wounded, and no clear path to our objective. Any recommendations?”

The ponies considered for a moment. “You could clear the debris with your magic, and we could go through the main deck,” Overcoat suggested.

Cutlass shook his head. “Nay, that would be very risky. There’s bound to be more that way, and moving the rubble might risk more damage…”

Twilight’s gaze shifted to her brother. “And Shining… We can’t carry him all the way to the bridge.”

Second Mate Fire nodded. “Yeah… And I don’t know if I’ll even be able to carry myself to the bridge…” The Navigator leaned up against the wall beside him, eyes half shut and body shaking.

Twilight glanced back and forth between the two. “You’re right, Second Mate. Okay, here’s the plan. You and my brother are going to stay here in the Officer’s Quarters. Hide. Don’t come out, and don’t draw attention.” She looked along the hallway, and saw how many of the rooms had been damaged in just these two short fights.

“It’ll be easiest if you stay in my room. Spike is already hiding in there, and if worst comes to worst, all three of you can hide in my closet. That should be the safest place.”

Shadow gave a crisp nod as he slowly lifted Shining onto his back. “Yes ma’am. I’ll keep them safe.” His red magical aura surrounded his flintlocks as he trudged his way to Twilight’s room. “Wait.”

Shadow turned back to Twilight. “Just one second...” He rummaged through Shining’s saddlebags. “Aha! Here they are!”

Using his red magic, the unicorn pulled a pair of stone objects from the bags. “The Quartermaster’s personal communication stones. That way, he can talk to you once he wakes up again.”

Overcoat nodded curtly. “Good idea.”

Twilight placed the offered item into her own saddle bag. “Thanks.”

Shadow turned and made his way into the room, pulling the unconscious Quartermaster along with him.

“Second Mate?”

The unicorn turned to face Twilight. “Yes ma’am?”

“Please… Take care of both of them…”

His eyes met hers for a moment. “You can count on me, ma’am.” The stallion rounded the corner and shut the door.

Twilight turned to the other two.

“Is there any other way to the bridge?”

Cutlass thought for a second. “Aye, the access tunnels. Engineering has a web of miniature corridors running through the hull to make repairs easier. We could make our way to Engineering using one, then cut through the ship up to the bridge. It’ll be hard, but not as hard as trying to trot there when we’ve been cut in half.” He gave a lopsided smile.

Overcoat nodded. “Yeah, that would work. But we’ll have to get out at Engineering. The access tunnel to the Bridge collapsed yesterday. Apparently somepony thought that it would be funny to bring a parasprite aboard, so one of the unicorns sealed the whole section off. We can’t get through.”

Twilight sighed. “Of course somepony would do something like that. Okay. So, we go down to Engineering, then make our way through the main hull to the bridge. Sound good?”

The other two nodded their approval.

“Okay. Overcoat, you seem to know a lot about the layout. Lead the way.”

The trio set off back the way that Shining Armor had originally come through, and Twilight shook her head. That had been the craziest five minutes she’d experienced in a long time… and more was soon to come…

“Umm… Everypony… may want to brace themselves…” Major Overcoat’s voice was quiet and cold.

Turning to look out a nearby viewport, Twilight felt her eyes open wide in terror. There, just a sef dozen meters off, flew the reanimated corpse of a black dragon.

It was flying directly at the ship.

“Oh.”

0317 NCST

Rainbow Dash

“Look out!”

“Marines, with me!”

“Get down!”

Crash!

Rainbow Dash grunted with a mixture of pain and surprise as she was tossed through the air and slammed into the main mast. She fell to the deck, gasping in shock. She couldn’t breathe. Stars swirled through her vision. Something cast a shadow over her, screaming. Her eyes widened as they focused in on the blade held in its talons.

Desperately, she willed her body to move. A wave of nausea came over her as she rolled out of the way, the griffon’s sword sticking into the deck. She watched, helpless, as the griffon struggled to pull his weapon out of the thick wood.

She could barely move, barely breathe, barely think. A dozen thoughts battled for control of her mind. Then and now started to flow into one. She couldn’t focus.

The present faded away.

The Nocturnal Thunder. What a beautiful ship. Three majestic masts running its length, an impressive broadside of one hundred cannons, multiple requiem guns, and a thick wood and steel hull. Crew complement of over one thousand. And she was one of them.

This was going to be fun.

Rainbow could barely contain her excitement as she followed Shining Armor up the gangway. There were ponies everywhere, going about their business. He was droning on about something boring; she wasn’t listening. Twilight was there, too. Rainbow didn’t understand how she could be so calm at a moment like this.

Shining led them onto the deck and turned to face them. That’s when he said the first interesting thing all day.

“So, are you two ready for your tour?”

“Tour?” Rainbow grinned. “Do we get to see the gun deck? The requiem cannons?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Are those the only things you care about on this ship?”

Rainbow blinked, briefly taken aback by the question. “Of course not! They’re just the coolest things!”

Shining chuckled. “Yes, Rainbow Dash, they’re part of the tour. Just don’t forget about the rest of the ship. We can’t have our new XO confining herself to the gun decks after all, can we?”

A giddy rush surged through her as she thought of her new position. “What’s my rank again, Shining?”

“Lieutenant Colonel!”

“Ugh, what?”

She was back in the present. The sound of steel on steel and gunfire surrounded her, played over the backdrop of screaming triumph and terror. The griffon was lying next to her in a pool of black ooze, and Spitfire was standing over her, a hoof roughly shaking her out of her flashback.

“Get a hold of yourself!” she shouted. Her voice was hoarse. A trickle of blood was running down her forehead. She spun around at the sound of approaching hooves, and the blunderbuss hanging by her side tossed a charging pirate off the ship.

Rainbow shook her head, climbing to her hooves. She felt heavy. “What happened?”

Spitfire shook her again, pointing a hoof out into the night. “Look!”

The deck was alive with battle. Half-rotted, zombified pirates fell upon the Nocturnal Thunder from above, blades and matchlocks at the ready. Half-dressed marines clambered up from the ship’s depths, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

A long roar thundered across the ship, a roar so deep  and fearsome that Rainbow could hear it in her very bones. She flinched as a sudden gust of wind pushed past her from above. She looked up.

“What is that?” she asked.

Spitfire waved her hoof emphatically. “It’s a dragon!” She turned as a yelling griffon rushed them, ducking under the charge and slicing its legs off with her wingblades. “We’re under attack from a bucking dragonload of pirates!”

Rainbow snorted, tossing her mane confidently. “That dragon doesn’t scare me!”

Spitfire pulled her closer. “Go! Gather some marines and keep the skies clear! Cut off their reinforcements!”

“Right, you can count on me!”

Spitfire nodded, taking off without another word.

Rainbow heard the scraping of claws on wood behind her. Twisting around, she barely avoided being impaled by a charging diamond dog’s spear. She stuck a hind leg out, tripping him, and finished him off with a quick stomp on the neck. The weakened and exposed tendons of his rotting body gave way easily, thick black blood splashing over her hooves.

Panting, she scanned the deck. The Thunder’s marines were scattered and confused, having rushed to the deck without the time to find their units. The pirates had exploited the element of surprise to its full effect, but they still hadn’t landed their whole force. If she was going to have any chance of controlling the air, Rainbow would have to gather some pegasi first.

Rainbow’s ears twitched at several sudden cries of pain. A minotaur charged straight through a sparse crowd of defenders, easily tossing them aside with his weight. The beast snorted, its right arm half-rotted away, and turned towards Rainbow. His little beady eyes focused on her. She blinked.

“Horseapples.”

He roared.

The minotaur charged, his heavy steps thundering against the wood of the deck. With a powerful flap of her wings, Rainbow took to the sky.

But she was too slow, and the minotaur too fast. Her hooves caught in its horns, and she plummeted back to the deck. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she rolled back to her hooves and twisted to face her adversary. She applied pressure to the safety bit in her mouth, and the two guns folded against her back fell into place at her sides, ready to fire.

Fire. The magical receiver attached to her neck pulsed as it read the command, forwarding it down the wire to the center of her battle harness and into the guns.

Bang! The pair of bullets zoomed through the air, two little balls of mobile death, carrying the might of—

They missed.

The minotaur narrowed his eyes.

Despite their brutish appearance and savagery in battle, minotaurs were in fact just as smart as the average pony. Undead, soul-enslaved minotaurs were no exception to this, and in fact were often smarter than their non-rotting counterparts due to the extra lifespan. Either way, he wasn’t stupid. He knew that she’d just tried to kill him. He also knew that the low-caliber Equestrian bullets were not likely to hurt him much anyways. But, as he liked to think, it’s the thought that counts.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was cursing the ten-second reload time of her standard-issue Mk. 10 rifles.

The minotaur roared his fury, proudly displaying his brutish muscles as he drew two bloodstained scimitars. He took a step.

Rainbow burst into motion, pushing off with her hind legs, the wingblades fastened to her feathers angling out of their sheaths at her mental command.

A pirate jumped onto her path, and received a pair of bone-crushing cyan hooves to the face for his effort. Rainbow jumped off him and flapped her wings once, soaring through the air. Blood sprouted from the minotaur’s neck as she passed, opening it with her steel.

She squawked in pain as he reached out with his rotted arm, grabbing her tail and pulling hard. Her guns clicked as the second pair of rounds finally fell into place.

Snapping around with the flap of a wing as he pulled her back, she shot both bullets into the beast’s arm. He roared as the rounds punched straight through the dead flesh, penetrating muscle and cracking bone. Black blood began to ooze from the wounds.

Wrenching herself out of his weakened grip, Rainbow dropped to the deck and sprinted between his legs, slicing them both open.

The minotaur stumbled, desperately trying to keep a grip on his swords.

Rainbow opened her wings, letting her momentum carry her up into the air, looping back, up, and  around to hit the minotaur with a soaring headbutt.

“Ow!”

She fell to the ground, stars popping in and out of her vision as nausea overcame her. With hindsight on her side, she suddenly realized that headbutting a zombie minotaur may not have been the best idea, and didn’t feel nearly as cool as she’d imagined.

She moaned, rolling onto her back just in time to see the cutlass headed for her face. Pushing herself out of the way with her wings, she jumped to her hooves, spun around, and bucked the pirate griffon in the face.

“Ugh, woah.” Dash stumbled, dazed by the sudden movement. She shook her head, sloppily deflecting another attacker’s incoming sword, and tripped over something.

More nausea. She heard steel clashing over her. Her ears started ringing. Looking around, she idly noted that she had tripped over a bloodied corpse. There was a dragon roaring, somewhere around the ship, the sound buzzing in her head like through a distant fog.

She could barely focus… couldn’t hear her own thoughts...

“Hey, Spitfire!”

Rainbow grinned as she trotted down the officer’s hall and through the door into Spitfire’s quarters, pointedly ignoring the glares from the marines standing guard.. Her idol was waiting for her there: the captain of the Sea Angels, mouth half-open as if she had been interrupted in the middle of a sentence.

Or as if she was slack-jawed in excitement with who she was seeing. Now that Rainbow really thought about it, that actually made more sense.

Rainbow grinned, wasting no time in pulling Spitfire into an eager hoofshake.

“Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire said. She coughed, nodding off to the side intently.

Curious, Rainbow followed her gaze. For the first time she noticed the other pony in the room, a sea blue pegasus mare standing stiff-legged in front of a chair, one hoof suspended above her forehead. Uncertain about the strange behavior, she looked back to Spitfire.

“Uh, what is she doing?”

Spitfire’s eyes widened. “You did graduate from Officer Candidate School, right?”

Rainbow scoffed. “Of course! Top of my class. I’m just checking to make sure you know, so I’ll know you know what you’re doing, y’know?”

Slowly, she blinked. “She’s saluting you. Salute back and tell her to be at ease.”

Rainbow let out a little chuckle. “Oookay, then.” Turning to the saluting pony, she waved a hoof over her forehead. “At easies.”

The other pony blinked. She relaxed into a more normal standing pose, one ear twitching. She seemed to be having some trouble breathing. “Lieutenant Colonel, Ma’am. It’s good to meet you, Ma’am,” she said.

Rainbow grinned. “Yeah, I know.”

Spitfire cleared her throat. “Sergeant Major, you are dismissed.”

The other pony stepped out the door, hooves just barely stomping against the wooden floor.

Rainbow looked back to Spitfire. “What’s up with her?”

Spitfire frowned. “Are you sure you graduated from OCS?”

“Lieutenant Colonel! Get up!”

“Ugh, what?”

Rainbow blinked her eyes open. She was being dragged across the deck. Someone was pulling her by her mane. Nine sets of hooves surrounded her, protecting her from the chaos of battle with flesh and steel. Scanning the deck, she picked out the motionless, rotted form of a headless minotaur.

A surge of elation went through her. She’d known it would work!

“Ma’am! Orders?”

Rainbow looked up. A deep blue pegasus stallion was looking down at her.

She snarled, shoving him off and jumping to her hooves. Ignoring the pounding sensation in her head, the gunsmoke stinging her eyes, and the screams filling her ears, she scanned the deck. “How many in your squad, uh…” She narrowed her eyes at the insignia sewn into his uniform. “Corporal?”

He blinked. “I’m a Sergeant, Ma’am. Ten pegasi, Ma’am.”

She shook her head, pushing past him. “Right, I knew that! Uh.” She glanced around. “Somepony find me a bucking comm-horn!”

One of the ponies forming the protective circle around them fell, and a trio of zombified diamond dogs burst through. Rainbow spun, catching the sword of the first dog with her wingblades. The other two raised their matchlocks to fire.

Rainbow flapped one wing, hard. Tucking her legs in, she rolled through the air, just barely dodging the two bullets that soared past beneath her.

She snapped her wings open, pushing herself back to the ground and casting the first dog’s sword away. Hooves back on solid ground, she wasted no time bursting forwards, tackling the first dog and hamstringing the other two with her wingblades as she passed.

Glancing aside, she saw the Sergeant pounce on one of the dogs, leaving the other two for her.

She slit the throat of the dog beneath her in an instant, raising her other wing to deflect the blade of the other. It stumbled. She grinned.

She easily took advantage of the mistake, shoving her shoulder into its chest. It whined as it fell back, flapping its arms wildly in an attempt to regain its balance. She rewarded the effort with a carefully placed blade, slipped right between the ribs and into the heart.

What a rush.

She pulled herself out of the zone, looking over to the Sergeant. He was just fine, standing over the corpse of his victim with wingblades dripping black ooze.

“Have you got a telecorn in your squad?” She fired a bullet into a rotted pony trying to take advantage of the breach in the circle.

“Here, Ma’am!”

By her side was a yellow unicorn, straining under the weight of his battle harness. The harness was devoid of the paired guns that Rainbow’s sported. It instead supported a pair of heavy, blocky saddlebags, connected by an elongated, pyramid-shaped device that stretched over his back.

She put a hoof on his shoulder. “Find me the 2nd Airborne, 1st Platoon!”

He nodded. “Yes, Ma’am!”

The unicorn closed his eyes, the glow from his horn matching the glow of the pyramid on his back. Rainbow scanned the battlefield. The Thunder’’s defenders were losing ground. The pirates gave them little opportunity to organize. If she didn’t cut off the pirate reinforcements there was no way the marines could win.

By her side, the unicorn channeled magic into his harness, linking himself into a telepathic network of similarly equipped unicorns around the ship. After a few seconds he opened his eyes.

“Reports say they’re in a dogfight around the crow’s nest, Ma’am!”

She nodded, looking to the Sergeant by her side. “With me! Let’s go!”

She took off without another word, her rainbow contrail following her up the length of the main mast. She began to pick shapes out of the nighttime darkness. Roughly twenty pegasi engaged in a furious aerial battle with a group of thirty or so zombified griffons.

She burst into the midst of the battle, and let her mind go free.

Her wingblades clipped the flight feathers of a griffon. It squawked in surprise, trailing black blood as it tumbled down to the deck.

A friendly pegasus cut past her. She snapped one of her wings closed, pulling herself into a tight corkscrew that narrowly avoided a deadly crash.

A griffon charged her, firing his matchlock. She pulled her wings in and rolled, dodging the bullets and firing her Mk. 10s. No time to wait and see if she scored any hits.

She broke to the left and found herself muzzle-to-beak with a griffon. She grabbed its neck in her forehooves and sunk a blade into the base of its wing.

She turned. Another griffon below her. She dived onto it, zooming past and slitting its throat before it even knew she was there.

Bullets whizzed past her from behind. She rolled upside down and dived, banking hard to the left. The bullets stopped. She hoped a friendly had taken care of her assailant, but didn’t dare look back.

Wham!

Rainbow grunted as a sudden weight slammed into her. The world spun, squawks and yells filling her ears as she struggled to catch a breath.

She felt a set of talons gripping her, pulling hard on her wings. The heavy barrel of a matchlock pushed itself into her mane.

“Gotcha.”

“No!”

Screaming, Rainbow wrenched one of her wings free. The griffon straddling her fell off, thrown by the sudden movement, and Rainbow took the opportunity to snap around and face her attacker.

Wind rushed in her ears as they fell. She narrowly avoided a deadly swipe of the griffon’s talons, countering with a buck to his head. The griffon went limp, and Rainbow opened her wings just in time to keep herself from crashing into the deck alongside him.

Rising back up to the crow’s nest, she scanned the battlefield once more. It was a tough fight, for sure. Half of the marines had been caught with their pants down, forced to rush out to fight without even the time to buckle on their barding. The dragon was out of sight, but she thought she could hear it somewhere below her. Up above, the dogfight had died down; the last griffon fell from the sky and crashed to the deck, shattering the wood on impact.

The pegasi of the 2nd Squadron, 1st Airborne Platoon arranged themselves around Rainbow, breathing hard.

“Alright squad, you’re with me!” she called. “Let’s go!”

She sped off into the night. After a brief confused hesitation, they followed.

The sixteen survivors of the dogfight formed an arrow, tracing her rainbow contrail through the night. Looking forwards, Rainbow counted the incoming wave of pirates. Thirty. Looking back to count her followers, she grinned. Sixteen should be more than enough, as long as she was there. Hay, she could probably take all thirty of ‘em herself. But it never hurt to have a little backup.

The dragon glided into view. The group of undead pirates was hanging back now, not advancing on the ship. Rainbow frowned, curious of the strange behavior. Whatever, she thought. They can make themselves easy if they really want to.

“Okay, squad!” Rainbow yelled. “Let’s go! Char—oof!”

A hoof clapped over her mouth. Somepony had grabbed her from behind. She heard a mare’s voice shouting, right behind her ear.

“Get down! Incoming!”

She felt her wings constricted, and soon she was falling. Her assailant let go a few meters from the ground, and Rainbow fell to the deck with an unceremonial thud.

The sea-blue pegasus mare she’d met a few days earlier landed next to her. A pair of pirates closed in on her, and she dispatched them with a few quick slashes.

Rainbow tried to get up, but the pegasus tackled her back down. The two of them skidded to a stop, lightly bumping against the deck’s wooden railing.

“What the hay are you doing?” Rainbow shouted, struggling to free herself from the other mare’s grip.

“Didn’t you hear me say to get down?” she yelled. “I’m saving your life!”

Rainbow paused. “What?”

Crash!

A volley of cannon fire ripped through the ship, smashing and splintering the wood all around them. Rainbow shut her eyes tight, hissing pain as wooden shrapnel slammed into her coat with the force of a sky chariot. She heard wood groaning and ponies screaming as blood dripped down her face.

Tentatively, she opened her eyes. There was a hoof laying on the deck before her. Just a hoof, nothing more. A hoof and a puddle of blood.

She felt a pair of strong hooves pull her up. The mare was glaring at her. “That could’ve been you, Lieutenant Colonel. You and the whole 2nd Squadron.”

Rainbow shoved her off. Thirteen of her pegasi remained, all with their bodies pushed flush against the deck. A new group of ponies had joined them as well; a group eighteen strong with pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies alike.

Rainbow shook her head, shoving a hoof into the mare’s chest. “Who are you to be bossing me around!?” she demanded.

The mare scanned the deck. “Sergeant Major Sea Sabre, Ma’am. A marine that knows a bad officer when she sees one.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “What!?”

Sea Sabre ignored her, waving a hoof over her head. “Alright, marines!” she roared. “Wings with me, hooves on deck, and horns at support! We’re clearing out those incoming pirates!”

The collection of marines nodded, yelling their assent. “Hooah!”

Rainbow looked back and forth between the ponies that were supposed to be under her control and the mare that had just stolen them from her. “W-wait!” she sputtered. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Your job,” Sea Sabre said. With a flap of her wings she was off, shortly followed by roughly twenty other pegasi and a strange, black-feathered griffon.

Rainbow gaped. That mare had just stolen her command! All around her earth ponies were planting their hooves on the deck, battle harnesses at the ready. One of the unicorns put her back up against two earth ponies, both of whom were burdened by heavy EM-30 automated rifles. The rest trotted around the group, fending off incoming pirates and setting up magical shields.

“What! She can’t just—eugh!” Rainbow stomped her hooves in frustration. She leveled a foreleg on one of the unicorns. “You! Stop what you’re doing!” she roared.

The unicorn blinked, hesitating. “But, Ma’am, the Sergeant Major said—”

“I don’t care what she said!” Rainbow screamed. “Eugh, nevermind!” She wasted no time in taking off, rapidly accelerating towards the wave of pirates.

The marines stolen from her were hanging back, circling near the Thunder. She zoomed past them, narrowly avoiding colliding with one.

“C’mon!” she shouted. “What are you waiting for?”

“Hold the line! Don’t follow her!”

Don’t listen to me, huh!? I’ll show them!”

She barreled into the wave of incoming pirates, immediately killing two with carefully placed wingblades. She didn’t care if her marines didn’t want to listen to her! She’d take these pirates herself!

Slash, dodge, roll, dive. Fire, fall, flap, parry. Grab, stab, rip, kick. Fly, fly, fly, fly!

“Oof!”

Rainbow grunted, her back flaring up with pain as she felt herself brought to a sudden stop. She felt half-rotted hooves tighten around her, holding her in place.

More of the winged pirates assembled around her. The zombified forms of pegasi, griffons, and ming kirin alike. She struggled in vain against her captor, bucking and flapping to no avail.

A pegasus flew into Rainbow’s view, tackling one of the pirates and cutting its flight feathers. And then another, and another.

She felt the rotted hooves pulled away, and Sea Sabre’s voice in her ear. “Get out of here! Get back to the ship!”

Rainbow pushed her away, gritting her teeth. So she was toying with the pirates, okay. That didn’t mean she needed to be saved!

She drew herself together like a coiled spring, preparing to burst into motion. Suddenly Sea Sabre was in front of her. “Get back to the damn ship before you get someone else killed!”

Rainbow blinked. “What?”

“I had a bucking plan, Lieutenant Colonel!” she snapped. “And I had to come out here and save your flank! So get back to the ship and stop bucking things up!”

Rainbow scanned her surroundings, stunned. The Nocturnal Thunder hovered a few hundred meters away, a wide hole ripped in its side full of frightened civilians. Marines were flying around her, desperately trying to fend off a pirate force twice as large as they were. She caught a glimpse of a dead pegasus, blood leaking onto the cloud the body had fallen to. She saw a stallion tumbling out of the sky, screaming as he desperately tried to fly with only one working wing. The pirates grinning as they closed in on their prey.

These ponies were dying for her.

She nodded. “Okay, let’s go! Back to the ship!”

The marines disengaged, flapping wildly as they did their best to return to the ship, to outrace the winged death hot on their tails. Rainbow was right after them, silently nursing her hurt pride. She’d almost died, and she didn’t even realize that these ponies had come to die in her place until it had been shoved in her face.

Sea Sabre bumped into her to get her attention. “Get to the ship and hit the deck! Protect the earth ponies! Fly at your own risk!”

Rainbow nodded, speeding up. Protect the earth ponies. Okay. She could repay a favor.

She slammed into the deck, skidding to a stop. Seven earth ponies were lined up around her, surrounded by a protective circle of outnumbered unicorns, each one frantically blasting magic and reinforcing shields.

She wasted no time leaping into the fray. With her here, nothing would get to the earth ponies!

The other pegasi landed hard, all rushing to join the protective circle. Sea Sabre landed last, waving a hoof at the earth ponies.

“Open up!” she shouted.

The Equestrian Remnant had never had a military very focused on firearms. They were complicated scientific devices requiring a great knowledge of mechanical affairs which wasn’t very common in the more magical society of the Remnant. The standard issue Mk. 10 rifle required ten whole seconds to cycle a new round after firing, and hooves rendered bolt-action and breech-loaded rifles near useless. Still, the magical talents of Remnant scientists had come to at least one fantastic result: an automated cycling system capable of firing heavy caliber slugs twice a second.

The EM-30 Repeater was without a doubt one of the more fearsome mobile firearms in the world of Trinity. Even if it required the combined strength of an earth pony and magical dexterity of a unicorn to use, had the tendency to malfunction in dirty environments, and was too complex to be truly mass produced, it still gave the Remnant military the kind of punch to make it a force to be reckoned with.

The ponies on the deck of the Nocturnal Thunder introduced this concept to the attacking pirates with extreme prejudice.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

Rainbow could feel it in her hooves. The recoil of the guns, travelling across the deck and up her legs. Her teeth chattered with the force of it. Each gun like another heart beating in her chest.

The night was alight with tracers. Dozens of bullets filled the air before the incoming pirates, slamming into them like a solid wall of death. A pair of unicorns galloped up and down the line of earth ponies, frantically feeding ammo belts into the guns with their magic.

The pirates returned fire, opening up with talon-held matchlocks of their own. More unicorns galloped in front of the earth ponies, summoning up a glowing wall of protective magic.

“Incoming! Eyes on deck!”

Rainbow tore her gaze from the bullet inferno just in time to see a pirate charging her. She reflexively took to the sky to escape. The pirate snarled at her, raising a matchlock to shoot her out of the sky.

She didn’t give him any time to fire, closing her wings and landing on his spine. Crunch! The pirate toppled over, screaming. She silenced him with a blade to the throat.

Rainbow looked up, scanning her surroundings. The pirates had seen what was happening; a group of them were charging the protective circle, desperately trying to get to the earth ponies and silence their onslaught of bullets.

She charged the fray, leaping into the melee. The protective circle was losing form; pirates and marines were mixing together into one deadly crowd as the opposing lines fused together.

Rainbow landed on a pirate hooves first, crushing his neck under her weight. Almost immediately, a blade reached out for her. She deflected it, but the battle pulled her attacker away before she could riposte. It was chaos. She could barely keep one target in sight long enough to move on it. She was so busy blocking, parrying, and dodging the attacks of every pirate that drifted within striking range she hardly had time to think. She cleared her mind, and let her body take over.

Duck, parry, riposte. Pounce, buck, roll, leap. Slash, dash, dodge, grab. Any pirate that stayed in her sight long enough fell before her.

Above her, dark shadows fell from the sky with barely audible thuds as bullets ripped them to pieces, down and down into the ocean below.

Jump back, charge forwards, tackle, stomp. Kick, bite, pull, slice. Pounce, punch, grab—

Rainbow blinked. The pony beneath her was whole and living, eyes wide as she held her wingblade to his neck.

“M-ma’am?” he stuttered. He was wearing a marine uniform.

She looked up. The tide was changing. With their reinforcements forced to run a veritable gauntlet of bullets and magic, the pirates had lost their momentum. The marines were forming up now, fighting in squads, as teams. Now they could win this battle.

The heavy breathing of the earth ponies became audible as their inferno of bullets puttered out. One of them turned to where Sea Sabre was crouched behind a barrel.

“We’re dry!” he called.

She nodded. “Wings! Clean up!”

As one, the winged marines took to the sky, easily decimating the scattered and shell-shocked remains of the wave of pirates. Rainbow led the way, eliminating the more distant pirates before they could try and unite with their comrades.

Leaving the rest of the pirates to the other marines, Rainbow came into a landing on the deck. With their reinforcements cut off, the pirates would have a hard time winning control of the ship. Marines now fought in organized squads, using teamwork tactics against the pirate’s chaotic assaults. They may not have numbers on their side, but it was now a fair fight.

Slam!

She twisted around, hooves barely hovering above the deck as she brought her wingblades out, ready to face the ferocious undead beast that—

Rainbow blinked. “Twilight?”

“Hello, Rainbow.” Twilight’s voice was low and monotonous. Her body was beaten and bruised, a thick layer of bloodied bandages wrapped around her flank.

Rainbow Dash scanned the deck, checking to make sure no pirates came their way. “What’re you doing up here, Twi? We’re under attack!” She had to yell just to be heard over the sounds of the battle.

Twilight rolled her eyes, the purple glow of her horn mirroring the glow around the sword-shaped collection of shards hovering by her side. “I noticed, Rainbow,” she said, eyes down.

Rainbow nodded, frowning. “It’s pirates. Zombie pirates with a pet dragon.” She perked up. “Oh! It’s Scorn! That undead changeling!”

Twilight sighed. “He’s not undead, Rainbow, he’s cursed. Zombies are incapable of rational thought, while a cursed being is—”

“Eugh, whatever!” Frustrated by Twilight’s obsessive need for correctness, Rainbow fired a pair of shots from her Mk. 10s, picking a passing zombie(ghoul)-griffon out of the sky. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing up here.”

A trio of pirates approached. Rainbow Dash dealt with the nearest two while Twilight magically threw the third overboard.

“I’m headed for the bridge,” Twilight spoke, her eyes staring forward, unblinking. “The princess needs me...”

Rainbow frowned. There was something off about her friend. She gestured with her hoof to the ferocious battle spanning the whole of the deck. “Are you okay, Twi? It’s a bit dangerous up here, and I’ve got my hooves full as it is without foalsitting you!”

Twilight turned to her friend sadly. “Oh, don’t worry about ‘foalsitting’ me. I’m going alone. I can’t lose anyone else…” With that, she turned, disappearing into the bloodied crowd.

Rainbow looked after her for a few moments, worried. I’d better keep an eye on her. Looking around, she called out to a nearby minotaur that was busily charging through a group of pirates. “Ragnar! You’re with me! We’re headed for the bridge!”

The minotaur snorted, taking up a position by her side. He brandished his axes as a wave of pirates approached the duo.

Whether Twilight liked it or not, she needed protection. The least Rainbow could do was hold the entrance of the command deck while she did whatever she needed to inside.

But unlike Twilight, Rainbow was a marine. A marine with a dozen kills, a bright rainbow mane and a colorful contrail. Which was something that, for whatever reason, tended to attract pirates.

Spreading her hooves, Rainbow Dash prepared herself for a long fight. She had to get to the command deck, and she didn’t think this battle would be ending anytime soon.

Taking a deep breath she let her mind roam free, and her body took control.

Bite, buck, duck, dodge. Fight, fight, fight, fight!

Next Chapter: Festering Nightmare: Part III Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 49 Minutes