//------------------------------//
// I'm On A Boat 
// Story: Broken Stems 
// by TCC56 
//------------------------------//

"Boats are actually really boring."

This was the exact opposite of what Rainbow Dash had previously said. Her precise words had been in response a week earlier to Applejack's caution that the time ahead wasn't going to be a pleasure cruise, to which Dash responded "Boats are awesome, what're you so worried about?" 

Several long days out on the open sea had changed her tune. At least for the first two days they'd been within view of the shore as they skirted the Nightmare Cliffs. But after turning south at the edge of the Sea of Clouds, land had disappeared entirely. Five days of nothing but open ocean - just the stars for guidance and the gentle lap of the waves on the hull. 

It had proven that even Rainbow Dash had a maximum number of naps she could take before going stir-crazy.

They had all tried to lend a hoof, of course - Applejack had been thankful for the chance to do work that helped their goal - but in the end there just wasn't much to be done. Crab Apple had sailed for years with just himself, and there was too little to keep six extra ponies busy. 

The claustrophobia of the train car had been different than the boat. At least on the train there had been room to move around. Now even flying was curtailed - with the trackless sea in every direction, going too far and losing sight of the boat was too great a threat even for Rainbow 'Danger' Dash. There was daring, and then there was foolishness. 

On the morning of the eighth day, Rainbow said those words. And aside from Crab Apple's smug smirk, none of them disagreed. 

The lack of disagreement meant there was no one to stop Dash from complaining more. "I figured it wouldn't be a luxury cruise but come on! I bet I could've flown there in like, half the time! A third, even! Got it all done and had them back in time for--" 

Rainbow Dash stopped her whining dead. Instantly, every pony on the boat perked up - the flier giving up mid-sentence meant something. Slowly, they all approached through the looming dread. Pinkie Pie was the one to ask it. "Dashie? What's going on?"

"Do you feel that, Fluttershy?" Rainbow's red eyes were fixed on the horizon - a specific spot to the south, despite nothing being visible but blue sky, waves and a few distant clouds. "You feel that, don't you."

Now they looked to the other pegasus. That she could feel what Rainbow did was obvious from the way she was cringing. Her voice squeaked, fearing whatever was out there could hear her. "yes."

"It's... angry." Rainbow's eyes drifted closed as she concentrated. Her head canted to the right, ears moving on a swivel to try and pin down an unheard sound in the distance. Her wings spread themselves wide without thought, feathers grasping at a far-off wind. "South-south-west. Hundred and ninety degrees, about seven kilometers." 

Crab Apple trotted the few steps to the bow, pulling a pair of binoculars up. It took him only a few moments to confirm. "Storm front," he pronounced direly. "Big 'un. If we're lucky it's blowin' crosswise--" 

"It isn't moving." Dash shook her head, eyes still closed as she focused intently. "The wind's going westwards, but the storm isn't. It's... why isn't it moving? I can feel it. We're way past the reach of the Weather Bureau, so all the storms out here should be wild. But this one's... not. It's big and angry and--" 

"And it's stationary." 

All the eyes turned to Tempest - even Dash opened hers up to look. The dark mare let them hang in suspense for a few seconds before continuing. "The Citadel of Storms isn't called that for no reason." She glared out across the sea at the just barely visible speck of grey cloud on the horizon. "We'll be there soon. Everypony should start to prepare. I'll lay out the plan as we get closer."





An hour made all the difference - the Citadel was no longer a tiny greyish spot in the distance. It loomed now, tearing out of the sea like a badly hammered nail. The island itself was a jagged, rocky scar that stood defiantly against nature - slate grey cliffs against the blue sea. What could be seen of it was inhospitable and exuded an ominous aura even before looking to the stormy sky. Tall grey spikes of stone jutted out of the water, eventually becoming so dense as to pass for land - and then one's eyes were drawn to the north-western end. 

There was the Citadel itself: a spikey black edifice atop a high promontory. Around it, the ever-swirling bank of stormclouds made why it was named obvious and lit it with bursts of blue lightning that danced from cloud to cloud.

Rainbow Dash whistled lowly. "And they did this without pegasus engineering?" 

"Dash, could you be a bit less impressed 'bout the ominous evil fortress we're about t'be stormin'?" Applejack stretched her rear legs one at a time, limbering herself up in preparation. 

"What?" The pegasus shrugged. "It's good weather work, okay?"

Applejack muttered something about children as they turned to gather with the others around Tempest. She had a rough map laid out on the deck of the boat, drawn in charcoal on the weathered wood. 

"Our first problem is the approach," she outlined. "The waters around the island are a deathtrap to boats. Even if they were calm - and the storm means they're never calm - the stone spires get thicker the closer to shore you get. Most aren't above the water, so getting anywhere near risks having the hull torn apart with no way to realize until it's too late. My original plan had been to take a small rowboat, get as close as we could before it was destroyed and swim the rest of the way." Tempest looked to the sides of the fishing vessel. "Since there aren't any onboard, we'll have to figure out a new plan."

Pinkie said what the others were thinking, and somehow managed to make it not sound like an accusation as she did. "Maaaybe we should have planned that part out sooner?"

Dash's input was far less gentle. "So we shouldn't have taken a boat to start with! If we'd gone by air--" 

Holding up a hoof to silence them, Tempest shook her head. "Air would have avoided the rocks, but it has other problems. There's only a few safe paths through the storm to begin with, and the Citadel has a lot of defenses pointed right at those gaps. Going through them would be putting ourselves directly into their cannons, and there's no taking a different path without a few dozen pegasi to cut the stormclouds." She paused for a moment, watching as Dash's ire dampened back down. "As for planning ahead.. You're right, I should have. With the changes of plan from the zebra ship to this one, that part of it slipped past me until we were already sailing and it was too late. I'm sorry." 

Even before she could hang her head properly, Tempest was hugged. "Everypony makes mistakes," Pinkie Pie advised from out of her cuddly death grip. "We haven't let anything stop us yet, so this won't either."

With a deep sigh, Tempest nodded and returned to the sketch. "Once we figure out how to get through there, we're going to have to scale the cliffs. That's the easy part. Since no one's able to get close to shore, there aren't any guards dedicated to watching them. As long as we take it slowly, we'll be fine. And the weather's normal inside the ring of clouds, so we won't have to worry about that. But once we're there..." 

Tempest's hoof slipped over to the island's interior. "Up here, on the promontory, is the Citadel itself. Tall central tower surrounded by about a dozen smaller buildings. Barracks and the like. That's all surrounded by a curtain wall. Outside that and stretching to the south-east is the encampment - it's where most of the Storm Guard lives, along with the rest of what they need for that. Cook-houses, crafters, the airship docks and the merchant's annex. But most importantly..." She tapped a roughly-drawn hexagon with her hoof. "The slave quarter. If nothing else has changed, we'll find Bright Mac there and Buttercup at the Citadel." 

The others were all silent, looking over the sketch. Applejack's nodding was solemn and silent; Rainbow Dash's wings flared angrily at the word 'slave'. Pinkie had only a simple question: "So how do we free them?"

"We start here," Tempest indicated with another tap on the hexagon. "Getting in there should be the easier of the two. Then once we have Bright Mac, we gallop to the Citadel as fast as we--" 

A bright pink hoof sealed Tempest's mouth and silenced her. "No. How do we free them."

Seconds ticked by as Pinkie's words rolled through all of their minds. Recognition snapped into place for all but Tempest. She simply stared at Pinkie Pie, unsure how the question was different than her answer. 

"I believe," Rarity ventured, "What Pinkie means is... Tempest, how many slaves do they have?"

Still not getting it, the dark mare considered. "Assuming that the number's still around the same, since we've been preventing them from raiding for more? A few hundred. I don't know how many they brought back from the outlying regions we didn't manage to free, though."

A few more seconds passed. Tempest blinked. "OH."

"Eeyup," Applejack pronounced. 

Pensively, Tempest looked at her sketch again. "I... I understand what you mean. And you're right. But it's just the six of us - since no offense Captain Apple, but you didn't sign up for this." 

Crab Apple gave a slight smirk and a nod. 

"Getting out two is difficult," Tempest noted with heavy words. "But rescuing all of them complicates things. Six against an entire army is.. not the best odds."

Rainbow Dash let out a loud snort. "Yeah, but we're awesome." 

"It ain't gonna be easy, but they're right." Applejack set a hoof against Tempest's shoulder. "An' you know they're right."

A heavy sigh slipped out of Tempest. "I know. I just don't want to risk saving your parents, that's all. We're so close and I.. I don't want to fail. Them. You. Anypony."

Applejack considered for a moment. "You said before that Pa - he sorta adopted the others around him, right?" Her voice hitched as she spoke, crawling past the thought of her father taking a replacement family. "If that's true, ain't no way Ma and Pa would leave the rest behind. Wouldn't be right." 

It was slow, but Tempest nodded. "Yes. You're all right, and I know you're right. We can't just leave them." She scanned over the sketch again. "New plan. Half of us will get into the compound and alert the slaves there. The other half will sneak into the nearest armory, get as many weapons as we can carry and deliver them to the compound. Then we stage a revolt and get them to one of the airships while we go to the Citadel itself to rescue Buttercup and the others there. It's going to be a lot tougher and it's going to be a mess, but we can do it. ..After we get to shore." 

"Ah think we all agree there." 

"Well," Pinkie noted, "All of us except Fluttershy. She's gone." 

It took Rainbow Dash approximately three seconds to go from 'chillax' to 'airborne search and rescue'. "Fluttershy? FLUTTERSHY?!"

As the others dashed to the rails of the boat, the pegasus zipped from side to side, red eyes searching the waters around. "Come on Fluttershy, where are you?!"

A small splash attracted everypony's attention, pulling them all to the port side of the boat. Fluttershy surfaced a moment later, just her head breaking the water - then she whipped her head back to get her mane out of her eyes. The luxurious pink tresses arced, a rainbow of water droplets glittering in the sun as it flipped above her. Somewhere in the far distance, Photo Finish gasped dramatically. Then - with a cheeky smile and glimmering eyes, Fluttershy giggled. "Hi, Dash. Sorry, did I miss something?"

All around, ponies relaxed. Rarity shook her head with a smile. "Fluttershy, darling, you gave us quite a fright disappearing like that. What are you doing down there?"

"Oh! Oh, sorry." Fluttershy sank slightly, trying to extinguish her fiery blush with the sea. But then she rose up again - as did another head next to her. "I was solving our problem. This is Bertram. He and his friends agreed to help guide us through the rocks!" 

The dolphin happily chittered. Fluttershy nickered back and rubbed noses with it. 





"Left! I--I mean port! Port!" Fluttershy waved her hooves wildly at a spot just off the bow of the boat. Tempest scrambled into place, bracing a long pole in her teeth. Spearing into the water, she jammed the rod against the hidden rock that Bertram (via Fluttershy) had indicated - adjusting the vessel's course just enough to prevent it from tearing into the hull.

They were in the thick of the rocks now - inching forward with the sails down. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were hovering just above to spot and relay messages as the others scrambled around the decking to respond. Poles and oars held at the ready, they slowly pushed the boat from rock to rock. Each deflection was narrow - some within just a hoof-width from the hull - and each took them creepingly closer to the island and the cliffs. 

Dash zipped to the port side again, bracing herself against the rail beating her wings to give the boat a little extra shove. "So Tempest. How many guards are we expecting in there again?"

Her push done, Tempest pulled backwards and waited for Fluttershy to call out another. "Hard to say. Most of the army that's normally here went to Equestria with the Storm King. The garrison he-- we left behind wouldn't be much, but the last two years are going to work against us." She started to move as Fluttershy called out another rock - but Pinkie Pie got there first. "After I helped free Panthera, the Storm Guard there scattered. Most probably came back here. The same with all of the other border posts, fortresses and camps around the Storm King's territory that we've destroyed since his defeat." 

Tempest looked up at the towering cliffs - and to the castle-town atop them. "It could be five hundred. It could be five thousand. For all I know they could have abandoned the Citadel entirely and run to set up somewhere else. That's why I said rescuing all of the slaves is dangerous, Rainbow. We could be climbing that cliff into anything."

Rainbow Dash pursed her lips in a pout. "Well, then who's gonna be in charge? That's how it always works - you take down whoever's in charge and it's over."

"If that were true," Tempest pointed out, "Then we wouldn't be doing this in the first place. You took out the Storm King, remember?"

The boat rocked hard to the left as it grazed a rock - Applejack and Rarity both pushed as the farmer cried "HEAVE!". 

Tempest lurched with the boat, and Rainbow did not. She barely reacted to the sound of stone scraping against wood and instead rolled her eyes. "Pft. We didn't do that. You're the one that took out the Storm King. And then you were next in charge and you kinda took out yourself? Not sure if you get the credit or Twilight does on that one."

Bracing herself against the rail, Tempest glared at Dash. 

"...What?" The pegasus blinked uncomprehendingly.

Rainbow Dash barely dodged the wildly-swung pole in Tempest's mouth-grip. 

"Will you two dang donkeys stop that an' help?!" 

Instantly, Dash disengaged. "Sorry! Sorry, my fault." She zipped to the outside edge of the boat, wings flapping furiously as she gave it a push away from another rock. "I was just asking Tempest about what we're gonna be up against. Like who's in charge and stuff."

Letting out a long sigh, Tempest tried to brush it all off again. "If it'll let you concentrate on us not sinking, it's probably the Storm King's idiot nephew."

"Wow!" Pinkie popped up from the bow of the boat. "That creepy weirdo has a family?" 

For a moment, all paused at the juxtaposition of Pinkie Pie calling someone a weirdo. Then Tempest shrugged. "He always called him nephew. But Cadence isn't really Celestia's niece so who knows." A pause - another push of the pole to inch the boat a little closer. The shore wasn't far now, but each hoofstep forward meant more rocks that slowed the journey even more. She tried to concentrate on the information rather than the pace. "He calls himself the Scion of Storms, because if those two were related? He has his uncle's ego. And not a lot else." She snorted. "Certainly not the Storm King's trust. Little nephew wasn't originally the one left in charge, but after two years of clean-up he's all that's left. A sad monkey on a lonesome throne over an angry sea." 

"And quite a poetic way to express it," Rarity noted musically. 

"STOP!"

Four poles jammed into the sea at Fluttershy's call, bringing the boat to a halt. They all looked to her, waiting as she conversed with the dolphin - and pronounced the end. "We can't get any closer. It's too shallow." 

Nodding, Tempest once more took control. "Alright, we'll swi--" 

And the Bearers were already in motion. It was like clockwork - Rarity projected a flat diamond-shaped field of magic onto the deck that she, Applejack and Pinkie stepped onto. Mere moments later, Applejack had her lasso looped around under the field and tossed the ends into the air - one to Rainbow Dash, the other to Fluttershy. And they simply looked to Tempest, as if wondering why she wasn't already aboard. 

Tempest blinked. "...Oh. Right. Already veteran adventurers." 

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Well duh, silly! Now come on Fizzy! Dash and Fluttershy can't go far but they can get us to shore, then help Crab Apple get his boat back out with Bertram. It'll be easy!" 

The dark mare frowned. "...Yeah. Easy." 

And she looked up at the tall, grey cliff - and the storming skies above it.