"Land Ho!" The call was loud and clear, starting Silver from his unconcious state. He rubbed at his head with a hoof, frowning. Hadn't they been deep in the ocean? His room was mostly empty, save two special females.
Still was slowly stirring, her eyes blinking away the sleep in them. Sheba sprang up, claws slipping free as she hissed and looked around on high alert. "Land? Did he say land? How long have we been unthinking?"
Unthinking? "Don't you mean asleep?" Silver slid from bed to his own hooves, testing each in turn. His body seemed to be operational.
"Sleep carries dreams. There were none of those." Sheba waved it away before turning to Still. "Was it the same for you?"
"No dreams," agreed Still in an economy of syllables, her ornamented ears turning to catch each sound. "We have survived? I... Master, if what you said was the truth... I would take my leave. I do not wish this."
Silver felt an icy dagger in his chest. "What? No! I mean... Sorry. You can. If you want to go, I won't stop you, but... There's so much we can do. It won't involve further dealings with horrors beneath the--"
"Master!" The door leading to the hallway burst open, revealing little Whiskers grinning at him. "They're awake, all of them!" she hollered and other servants began to quickly show up, fussing over Silver. Despite his protest, they got to grooming him and preparing him for the first morning he'd actually experienced in some time.
Sheba smirked at the view, watching Silver drown in the sudden tide of willing servants. Her eyes darted to Still. "You are hurting him."
"I was hurt first," she squeaked out before taking a slow breath, trying to center herself. "I felt control slipping away. Never have I been so close since... silence was given as an option."
"You were alive." Sheba shrugged softly, standing at Still's side. "After many years of waking death. Of course this is frightening, but such is life. Better than the alternative."
"I could not do that again..."
Sheba waved towards Silver, a few fingers wriggling in the motion. "Or you can live. He obviously adores you. Do you not recall? He named you favorite, and I do not think that was idle banter."
"Favorite?!" sharply noted the fox, her ears pricked. "Hmmph, I was doomed from the start. I don't have a horn to compete with."
Whiskers waved it away with a free hand, the other working a brush through Silver's mane. "There can only be one favorite, but I doubt it means as much as it did with the sultan."
"Can you not all speak about me as if I wasn't here?" He pointed a hoof to the door, to the annoyance of those trying to groom in. "Seriously, how long were we out?"
A new figure appeared at the door. "A week. Imagine our surprise." The canine captain strolled in like he owned the place, which he did. "You three and the witch below, struck down all at once. There's coincedence, and otherwise. Ar, ye didn't fool me for an instant. What manner of arcane menace did you all throw yourself against?"
The servants peered at him as if he were mad, but did not object to his presence. Sheba sprang her claws free. "They were shielding you from the angry sea itself. I beheld its eye and would rather not repeat it."
Still cringed back at the thought. "Never again."
"Hopefully not," added Silver with a nod. "They have the right of it. We just wanted everyone safe. I hope everyone was alright?"
"They're fine, but yer my damned cargo. Y'aint supposed to be riskin' yerself for my benefit. Kinda the opposite of how that there works, ye daft pony." He slapped Silver on the shoulder firmly. "That aside, thanks. This trip's usually a bit longer, and a bit rougher. Whatever ye did, it worked jus' fine."
They had won through. He let out a breath of relief. "Good... how close are we to the dock?"
"Shouldn't be long now. We'll let ye know when it's time." He turned and pointed the way as he went. "A captain's job's never done! Back to work wit' me!" He marched purposefully from the room, leaving his cargo to their own devices.
Maribelle suddenly leaned over into Silver's view, her predigious assets coming into view alongside her grinning face. "It's so nice to see you up and moving again. When we pull in, will we be having a more luxurious passage to... What is the capital of Equestria again?"
"C--" Silver trailed off, aborting the thought. "Does anyone here know?" How much they understood their new home was a thought just occuring to him.
Sheba raised a hand. "It is ruled over by Queen Celestia. Stupid myths say she is the controller of the sun and moon, but myths have a habit of becoming overblown."
Still inclined her head faintly. "I thought the moon was controlled by her sister, Luna of the Night. I remember that tale clearly, but it was that, a story."
Maribelle crossed her arms. "If it's long enough to be a legend, both are gone, right?"
Silver smiled nervously, realizing how little any of them understood the current condition of Equestria, all arguing about legends spread of its magic lands. "It is reigned over by Princess Celestia. At her side is her sister Luna. You have the sun and moon parts right, with Celestia doing the sun and Luna the moon."
Sheba scowled at that. "Are you saying the myths are more than idle fancy?!"
"As true as the sun above us." Silver waved a hoof upwards, though no sun could be seen through the wooden roof. "Though the legends don't say too much about her weird husband. Maybe you've heard of him?"
Whiskers casually bonked him on the head with her brush. "Never heard of him," she jested with a roll of her eyes. "That means we will serve the day and moon royalty as well, does it not, or will you keep us to yourself?"
He hadn't put much thought into it. "Anything that is mine is theirs, and I hope it goes the other way around." Not that he actually expected Celestia to assume every artifact she may have to be 'his', but it was a nice thought. "But you are not mine." They peered at him oddly. "I am hiring you, not owning you. There is a large difference there."
Sheba rolled a hand. "Spare me, my Too Nice employer. I can wander away from you and become lost in a new land, or return to try my hand at becoming a queen again, likely to end in blood spilled in foul ways. I am your sword, though I do expect to be treated properly."
The ship beneath them jostled gently, noise increasing from abovedeck as sailors rushed to get the boat to come into the harbor properly. Silver nodded to Sheba. "That is your decision. I won't turn you away, but I am not a slave owner. I have personal issues with that."
"Oh, I never said I was a slave." She was suddenly beside Silver, claws at his throat, but they ran through the fur, scratching gently through his pelt with the faint promise and threat of just how sharp they were. Pressed as carefully as she was doing, it was a nice little scritching. "I am your guard, and I would learn well the true lay of the world at your side."
Maribelle lifted her shoulders. "We are not slaves. Slaves are a specific thing. We selected this life, and we have our expectations as well. Gladly we are your servants."
Silver flattened one of his ears back. "You say that, but if the sultan tired of you, what would you do? What could you have done?"
Whiskers shrugged from atop him. "Find a Too Kind prince to work for instead?"
"But what are the odds of that?" he laughed even as he fought to get the words out. "In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter, and I'm just as glad to not call you slaves. If you tire of me, you can quit at any time, though I'd appreciate the customary two week warning." They peered at him as if he were speaking oddly. Ah. "Where I came from, originally, it was considered polite to give your employer two weeks notice, so they could prepare for your absence."
Still lifted her ears softly. "How polite. Your homeland prepared you well for being kind. I am not giving two weeks notice... I will do that instead." She raised a hoof. "You have been kind, I will not leave rudely. Two weeks."
Sheba was further back, leaning in to whisper in his ear and casually squashing Whiskers as she did so, "Two weeks is long enough for her to forget why she wanted to leave. You may yet snare her." With the words complete, she ceased to be, suddenly beside Still.
Whiskers glared at where Sheba had been a moment ago, hands on her small hips. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but now that we are arriving, I want to see Equestria! Surely not all the stories are true, considering some counter the others."
Silver took a step, his legs as glossy as his servants wished for. He had his saddlebags on, a crown on his head, and was ready to greet the day. "Let's go up and see what's going on. It may be your first chance to see Equestria." None of them argued that invitation, a great procession starting that spilled out onto the deck of the ship with much quiet chatter going back and forth.
The ship was no longer a lone thing on the waves. Countless others were within view. Some were fishing, others sailing purposefully. Some were cargo, others little luxury yachts. One of the latter was drawing closer. "I say," came a voice from it. "Is that a prince on your deck?"
Silver leaned over to peer at who had called. "Fancy? Fancy Pants, that is you."
"'Tis I," he readily agreed with a soft smile. "What fortune I happened to be enjoying a little outing as you come in. Well, as interesting as it is to shout at you, I'll let your ship dock and come greet you properly." He waved away and some other pony at the helm drew the yacht back out of the way of their ship. "Welcome home!"
Silver smiled at the city they were approaching. He really was home. They had made it. A pity he hadn't... all made it. His smile faltered, thinking of Nefertari, passed as she was. If only... But it was too late to consider could have beens. He shook his head softly and spread his wings wide. "I will meet you there." He took several firm steps before he launched himself to the sky, soaring on the currents of the air.
He felt heavy, and the press of Sheba's legs around his barrel. "You are not leaving without your guard, hm. Also, you have another."
"Hello," squeaked out Whiskers. "You didn't give me much of a chance to get off." She was clutching to his back, her hands lost in his fur. "What a view!"
"Marvelous," agreed Sheba, eyes wandering over the tall shapes of the pony metropolis. "Buildings that can reach the sky, to pierce clouds as they pass. I had thought that to be one of the myths surely false, and here it is, before my eyes."
How did that work? For the ponies to have such technology and the rest of the world to not have taken it. Was information that sluggish? "There are other wonders I imagine you will both marvel at, and I will be glad to show it to you, but stay by me for now." Not that they had much choice, both perched atop his flying form.