*Chapter 5*

Into the Black

They were away. Their itinerary, as it was agreed upon beforehoof, was due north. Of course, this was a complete guess; there was just absolutely no possible way to ascertain the whereabouts of these fairy tale provinces. On the plus side, if their northern headway was indeed wrong, then it was a simple matter of adjusting course to the east or west; however long it took to get there was another question altogether.

Mirrorrim stood on the bow of the ship, her hooves firmly planted in a full body concentration. Fairweather minded the compass, to make sure they did not stray off course. The other four ponies stood about the deck, watching the endless progress of the night time sky.

Summer Blaze rather enjoyed the feeling of the salt-heavy wind playing through his mane, this enjoyment, however, was perforated by the forlornly obvious gravity of this particular journey. Could it really have been just a mere six hours ago that he and his friends were present at the Summer Sun Celebration? The rush of the past day's imagery flooded Blaze's mind; The sun rising; Nightmare Moon returning to power; Celestia being banished to the sun; and he and his friends being gifted the Elements of Harmony. And then for some reason, though not an entirely unwanted one, the image of Princess Luna drifted into his mind.

Her image brought the familiar rush of startled heat to Blaze's body. Those few moments when he was looking into Luna's eyes...he would give anything to have those moments again. His contentment at this memory soon turned to anger at the thought of Nightmare Moon. Whisking Luna away and trapping her inside her own bodily nightmare. But then Blaze remembered that strange instance where Nightmare seemed to be talking to herself; he knew that Luna was indeed still inside the Nightmare, and was consciously resisting her. If Blaze could free her from the Nightmare...to be the first one Luna sees upon her liberation. Maybe...in a rush of gratitude...she would...

"Earth ta Blaze, hellooo..."

Blaze snapped out of his reverie to find Ivy Leagues beside him. "Hey Ivy," he said dreamily.

"Now, I aint gonna pretend our situation here doesn't warrant the occasional pensive," Ivy said. "But don't y'all reckon it's best to stay alert when we can?"

"Yeah, you're right," Blaze said back. He cast a look about the deck, "Where's Dusk?"

"Jus' tucked 'er in down below; she nodded off a few minutes ago." Ivy looked thoughtful for a moment. "'Mazin' innit? How that little filly can still do somthin' like sleep. Heck, I'd be surprised if anypony 'round here got any shuteye. Then a course, there's the rest of Equestria. Wit this here eternal night and what, ponies' sleep cycles are gonna be shot ta seed. Not ta mention wit no sunlight, tha plant life is gonna start dyin' off..."

Blaze never knew why he didn't think about any of these things. He guessed it just took a rational, farm-working earth pony to see the long term earthbound detriment of the situation. "Where are you from, Ivy?" The question suddenly seemed important to ask.

Ivy Leagues raised an eyebrow. "You wanna know that now?"

"Never occurred to me 'till just now," Blaze said honestly.

"Well, I was born in Neigh-vada," Ivy said, lifting a fore hoof proudly. "But 'round the time I was old enough ta start takin' care of myself, I got this letter from Princess Celestia..."

Blaze knew what he meant. He and Summer Dusk had received those very same letters. Could it be that the six of them had all gotten those letters? Could Celestia have known that they were the next bearers of the elements? And even if she did, how could she have known? The mysteries surrounding the sisters and their legendary status was deeper than ever.

Ivy and Blaze crossed the deck to join the two mares at the bow. Mirror was focused, with her eyes strait ahead as her spell propelled the vessel onwards. Fairweather looked up from the compass and greeted the stallions. "Nothing much going on up here," she said.

"Where's Nova?" Blaze asked.

"In the crow's nest," Fairweather said, pointing a hoof upwards. Sure enough, Nova Burst was there, his eyes cast dutifully forward. He caught Blaze's wave and fluttered down to the deck.

"Me and Ivy were just discussing our situation," Blaze them. "And I never really asked where any of you guys are from."

"Well, I was born in Ponyville," Fairweather said. "Nothing too exciting about that."

Blaze turned to Mirrorrim, "How about you, Mirror?"

For a moment, she didn't answer. She looked to be in a deep focus, which was understandable seeing as she was currently powering the ship. But Blaze noticed her lips were moving, and upon focusing his hearing, he discovered she was singing very softly:

"...Into the black

where the night never ends

the darkness cuts

into your brain..."

She seemed to realize that Blaze was staring at her as she turned to meet his gaze. "Yes?" she said. Blaze chose not not to press her about the song she was singing, but rather her birth place. "British Colt-lumbia," Mirror responded. "And please, do not disrupt my focus for such queries again."

"So how about you, Nova? Where were you born?" Blaze asked him.

"West Fillydelphia," he responded. "But I really don't see why..." Nova had stopped speaking entirely as his attention seemed to be taken by something on the horizon. "What is that?"

The others followed his gaze and soon saw what he meant. Silhouetted against the pearly moon were four black shapes. Blaze thought them to be pegasus ponies. But as they drew closer, he saw that these were no pegasi. Their bodies were as black as the night on which they approached; they had gleaming white fangs and menacing red eyes, and worst of all, they had scaly wings akin more to a bat's than the feathers of a pegasus. Blaze recognized them at once, "It's the lunar guard!" he shouted.

"The what?" Nova said.

"Princess Luna's personal bodyguards!" Blaze shouted. "I think they're being controlled by Nightmare Moon!"

Mirrorrim had cut off her spell as the lunar guard drew closer. "Fairweather, get below and start up the engines. It's imperative we keep the ship moving. We'll do what we can to hold them off."

"Okay. I'll be right back up." Fairweather dashed below deck to start the Ponyvillian's engines while the rest of the ponies steeled themselves for the encounter.

The lunar guard finally drew close enough to mount an assault, and with terrible blood-curdling cries, they dove for the ship. "Blaze, ready your concussion spells!" Mirror said.

Blaze was quite familiar with concussion spells. He used them often in his line of work; knocking down the remains of old buildings to clear a foundation for new ones. Blaze Mirror, Nova, and Ivy stood ready as the dark creatures drew closer, their fangs bared for combat. "Now!" Mirror cried.

Blaze and Mirror fired off concussion spells at the approaching creatures, who swiftly dodged them and spread their formation. Nova took flight and flew head on into the nearest one. Ivy caught caught one of the guards with a jumping rear kick and sent it sailing into the mast. It managed to shake off the blow and leap for Blaze. Blaze fired a spell and caught it right in the chest, propelling it right over the edge of the ship.

The Ponyvillian's engines gurgled to life as the creatures redoubled for another attack. Blaze and Mirror fired off spells at random, trying to knock them out of the sky. As one of the dark bat-wing ponies flew round his head, Blaze turned and noticed Fairweather and Summer Dusk galloping across the deck towards them. "What's happening?" Dusk whimpered.

"It's all right," Blaze assured her. "Just stay close to me. I really wish you would have stayed below deck."

"No we need her," Mirror said. "We can't wield the elements without her."

"Just what I was thinking," Fairweather chimed.

"Everypony gather up," ordered Mirrorrim. The six ponies took their formation as the lunar guard swooped down for a final attack run. The six ponies focused their wills through their enchanted necklaces. Soon, the power of friendship manifested itself in the beautifully intense rainbow that they had come know from the elements. The rainbow expanded greatly, and soon formed a sphere that enveloped the entire ship. The bat-wing ponies shrieked and screamed at it's lustrous light-giving aura. They turned back as quickly as they could and flew off in defeat.

"Yee Haw! We did it!" Ivy Leagues pranced in their triumph along with the others.

"The elements really came through for us, didn't they?" Dusk said.

"They sure did!" Blaze said happily. "If Mirror hadn't..." he turned to look at her and saw something alarming. Mirrorrim was swaying on the spot, it was she could do to try to remain upright, which she didn't manage for much longer. No sooner than Blaze moved to her side did she topple over, right onto his back. "Magic drain," Blaze aid knowingly. "It's no surprise seeing as she was powering the ship and helped us fight the lunar guard. Don't worry, she'll be just fine," he assured the others. "I'll take her down below and-"

"We have a problem," Fairweather said to the group. They looked to her, fearing the worst. "The compass..." on the small podium where the compass dish once sat, was nothing but a few splinters of shattered wood. The compass had been destroyed. "We must have lost it in the fray," she said.

"So, what do we do now?" Nova said.

Fairweather thought for a moment. "We can continue with our current baring, assuming that is we haven't been knocked off course, and try to orient ourselves from there." She revealed a telescope which she tucked under her folded wing. And unless I'm mistaken, we're fairly close to land."

"You don't think it could be..." Ivy ventured.

"Saba or the white mountains? I really doubt it," Fairweather said. "I'm not sure we'd even recognize those places if we did see them."

"How much longer until we reach land," Blaze said. He was honestly grateful for Fairweather's oceanic insight. He was sure that no other pegasus knew a thing about sailing.

"I'd say a good four hours until landfall. Plenty of time for Mirror to regain her strength and for us to grab some food."

The group nodded assent. There was obviously no telling what awaited them on that island. Only time would tell.

*End of chapter 5*

...

A/N:

Update! *Insert Fluttershy "yay" here* my oder just came in from gaming ETC, so I finally put the finishing touches on my pokemon deck! It's just a first pass, it's far from perfect, but I can't wait for Oct. 26.

And of course November 23, the MLP season 4 premier! (Of course I don't have cable, seeing as I chose internet instead, but It'll be on youtube in due time.) So anyway, thanks to those who gave my story a read, I'll update again soon.

-B.D. Skunkworks