Day two, Time 1: 19 PM

The crew of the Serpents Spine had gathered on the deck in full force to watch an intense game being played between two of their employers. For the last several hours they had been locked in an epic stalemate. No matter how hard one tried to break it the other would make a move that got the cycle started again. Currently the women in green had a Rook in place to take out the pink ponies black Bishop. And sure enough on her turn she did just that. The pink pony looked at the move and smiled. This gave her an opening to move a knight to an optimal check position.

Silently the crew made small wages with one another on who was going to win. They worked this way so as not to draw their captain’s attention. In truth Captain Mercer already knew what they were doing, but decided to allow it. After all, the men needed some way to keep themselves occupied.

Instead he took notice of their third employer, the fellow citizen of Broom Lynette. She was on her own staring out at the sea. Her face seemed to show deep thought and sorrow. He had seen this look before a thousand times.

“Is everything alright?” He asked her as friendly as possible.

“Just reminiscing.” She said, not bothering to look away from the endless blue.

He removed his hat and placed it at his chest. “You have the look of one who has lost something to the sea.”

This time she did shift her head to stare at him with watery grey eyes. “It was my father. Two years ago last month he rowed out and never came back. From what his fellow fishermen told me, his boat had been attacked by a Sea Serpent.”

“I am sorry to hear that.” Mercer said somberly.

“It’s alright; I have accepted that I can never get him back. But I still think of him every time I go to sea.”

He placed a hand carefully onto her back. “He sounded like just as brave a man as any who decide to live by the sea.”

Lynette turned to him and nodded him a thank you. The two of them stared out at the horizon for a bit, and watched a pair of Ruby dragons pluck silver fish from the clear waters. Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd behind them. Both bodies turned around to see the cause of the uproar. It seemed that both the women in green and Pinkie had pawns near the ends of the board and other pieces to prevent them from promoting. This left them both in very troublesome positions.

“Pinkie my dear, you have given me a fine game indeed.” The women in green said with a smile that rivaled the pink mare’s.

“Yeah, this is super doper fun! At the looks of things though, we may be here for a while.”

The women clasped her hands together and pondered her next move. Pinkie did the same with her hooves, not because she was thinking, but because she wanted to mimic her friend.

“How did you ever find such lovely company?” Mercer asked as he and Lynette made their way to the crowd.

“Honestly, they seem to just pop out from the ground.” She replied. Her voice still harbored some sorrow in it, but for the most part she was as lively as any of the others.

Suddenly the ship shook vigorously, and everyone was nearly thrown to the floor. The women in green made a dive to save her board, which nearly fell on the deck. When she caught it she stared intently at two of the pieces; the white king and the black queen. The fall had caused the two to slide dangerously close to one another. The women stared at these pieces and a small grin appeared on her face.

“Status report.” Mercer called to his men, who quickly got to their places and began thoroughly examining the ships sides.

“Seems we have hit some of the shallow rocks, sir!” One called.

“I think we’ve gone far enough, let’s get this over with.” Mercer called after a moment’s thought. Immediate the crew began to bring up large wooden crates and heavy weighted fishing nets. They also began arming themselves with harpoons, swords and any other weapon available.

Once everything was in position Mercer gave them a sharp nod. The crew opened the crates to reveal heaps of fresh red meat. Quickly they loaded the nets with their bloody cargo and dangled it over the water’s edge on the starboard side. Then they waited.

Pinkie was waiting over by Lynette and the women in green. This was all so exiting to the pink pony. If she were in Ponyville still she’d be busy planning all sorts of parties. Maybe once she found the girls she could introduce them to all her new friends. Then they could all celebrate together!

Suddenly the ship gave another shake. This one was different than the first though, it seemed more controlled. One of the crew members shouted something inaudible to the pink mare. And then he was suddenly gone.

Everyone turned to see an immensely long body covered in purple-black scales rise from the depts. Rows of razor sharp fins ran down its back like miniature sails. Its hideous head was adorned with whip like whiskers and barbed spines. The missing crewman screamed from between its needle like teeth before the beast disappeared back into the blue.

Mercer shouted out to his men to take up position at the ships sides. Just then there was a loud groaning noise and the beast lunged itself from the sea again, water dripping between its teeth like waterfalls. With a quick lunge it slide over the deck and devouring another screaming sailor before diving over the opposite side. Not a moment later its horrible head appeared on the original side again, giving it a firm hold on the ship.

Harpoons flew through the air, and while most missed their marks some were able to penetrate the serpent’s scales. On the deck men and women were hacking at its coils. Everywhere they struck horrid sour smelling blood flowed.

The serpent gave a gurgling hiss and lunged at the people attacking it. Many were crushed beneath its great body, and those that weren’t were tossed aside by the impact. One man landed close to Pinkie Pie, his face horribly scarred from the beast’s whiskers and bleeding badly.

“All at once, aim for the eyes!” Mercer called to his men. He them hurried over to the two women and pony. “Get below deck and stay low.”

There was another round of cries as the serpents head slithered and writhed its way to the ships stern. Hissing menacingly it opened its vile mouth. A torrent of vile breath came forth like a hurricane. The four of them only just had time to evade before it slammed into the quarter deck. Mercer, Pinkie and the women in green landed by each-other and all turned to look at the serpent. Its hollow lidless eyes were fixed onto them.

The rest of the crew carved at the beast’s body, but it didn’t even bother to look. With a quick movement its spiny tail erupted from the sea and came crashing down onto the brave sailors. Many of them were given quick passings, others were not so fortunate.

Fear had taken a firm hold on the pink pony as she observed the carnage around her. She had never in her wildest imagination believed such carnage was even possible. Her normally optimistic and cheerful mind suddenly filled with hideous thoughts of despair. She shifted her gaze away from the wounded and back towards the serpent. It reared its head back and let out another gurgling hiss.

Suddenly the serpent began flailing its neck wildly and let out a horrible cry of rage. Squinting her eyes Pinkie could see a harpoon logged between its left eye and skull. She turned to see Lynette standing on the beast’s body; her teeth flashed a savage grin of triumph.

“Get down!” she called to the others as the serpent turned towards its attacker. With a horrid screech it flung its vile head through the air. Lynette jumped out of the way at the last second as it went sliding over the bowsprit.

Mercer jumped to his feet and hurried to the weal. “If we keep it at the front I can crush its ugly head.”

“Consider it done.” Lynette said confidently.

“I’m coming to.” Pinkie piped up.

“Pinkie this is no place for you. Stay here where you’re safest.”

“I’m coming and you can’t stop me.” Pinkie said defiantly. Lynette let out a low sigh before nodding in agreement.

The serpent thrashed around the ship’s bow, tossing everything in its path over the edges. Lynette grabbed up a long line of rope and tossed it to Pinkie. The two worked feverously to keep the beast down while Mercer began bringing them to a tall rock carved from the sea. All this time the women in green stayed low and inconspicuous. She wasn’t much of a fighter after all.

The serpent finally began to recover from its injuries and tried to raise its head. To its annoyance however it found that lengths of ropes and nets had been tossed around it. With a quick flex of its great muscles it tore free from these binds and turned to the two that had tried to subdue it.

A bubbling hiss escaped its needle like teeth as it came down upon them. This was bad, Pinkie though to herself. the serpent had moved itself from the optimal ramming position.

Lynette seemed to notice this as well and let out a groan of inconvenience. Quickly she jumped over the debris and reached for a large splinter of wood. With a cry of triumph she plunged it deep into the serpent’s body. A hideous cry pierced the heavens as the serpent swerved its head towards the women who had dared to harm it.

Everyone else could do nothing but watch as Lynette gave a small triumphant smile. As the serpent dived towards her, and then claimed her in its vile jaws.

At that moment something went off in Pinkie’s mind. It was a feeling she preferred not to show unless absolutely necessary, the feeling of rage.

“HEY YOU BIG, UGLY SERPENT!” She cried at the top of her lungs. The serpent paused for a moment and turned its head towards the pink mare. With a hiss it reared back and lunged forward. Pinkie could still see Lynette’s body between its teeth.

She waited until the serpent was seconds away from her before spinning her body around. Once it was upon her she pulled her back legs in and delivered the hardest kick she had ever preformed. There was a horrible shattering sound and a dripping roar of pain as the serpent recoiled its head, dropping Lynette’s body in the process. It thrashed madly in the air towards the ships front.

Triumphantly Pinkie turned towards Mercer, who had a savage grin of victory on his face.

“Everyone get down!”

CRACK-GERUNCH!

The entire front of the ship collided with the rock, with the serpent caught in the middle. It let loose one last scream of pain before its foul head slammed onto the ship.

For a while time seemed to stand still as the survivors looked over the area. They all expected something to happen but to their delight nothing did. Mercer and the women in green rushed down from the quarter deck and joined Pinkie in a moment of silence.

Suddenly a low moan caught all of their ears. Turning around they saw Lynette half buried in debris. “Did we win?” She asked weakly.

Immediately Pinkie rushed over to her injured friend and embraced her tightly, only stopping when she let out a cry of pain. Mercer and the women in green helped Lynette out of the rubble and lay her down. As they did she let out a grunt of pain while taking her hand from her leg. In her hand were two ling dagger like fangs. Smiling she tossed one to the party mare.

“Well Pinkie you were right, there is nobody as crazy as us.”