The Princess's Hero

by The One Hammer

The Wreck

Creeaak, Creeaak, Creeaak,

"Stop moving the floor," Craft mumbled against the rocking floor. "I'd like to get off the ride." The floor did not comply with his wishes, instead it continued to sway Craft's body, to his left then to his right, to the left to the right, left then right, left to right. "Screw you too," Lifting his head earned him sharp pain in his ear. "Ow, ow, ow! O.k! I'm not sick any more."

Shifting his body, Craft got his hooves under him. "What is on my ear?" Moving his left hoof up to his ear gave Craft a solid thump on something big. Feeling up the offending mass as best as he could. Finding some sort of crate, Craft came to an impasse. "The corner's on my ear, no way to hold it up and too heavy to move," as he thought outloud, Craft failed to notice the rocking had slowed to a stop, as well as something else.

"I can't really move, so… COLD!!" Craft yelped as his rump got wet and tried to pull it out of the water. "Wait, water, what's that doing-, and it's rising fast." As the water rose Craft found that his head was higher than his rump, but not by much. Craft started throwing hits at his inanimate offender. The water was already at his jaw, forcing Craft to twist his head upward to keep water out of his snout. "Shit, shit, shi~et! I don't want to do this!" Shifting his forehooves one again as water forced his left eye to close, Craft took a deep Breath and exhaled. "Do or drown, Craft, well… shut-up, three… two…—GGAAAAHHHH!!!"

Craft jolted up into a sitting pose, his forehooves whipped to his ear. Now missing half of his ear, he sported a right angled nick. Whimpering as a warm liquid ran down his neck, Craft sat, with watery eyes, as the water rose higher.

"N-need to move," Craft whimpered as he stood and trudged through the darkness to swallow water. Before he could make any headway, light flooded the room, blinding Craft.

"Craft?!" A ragged looking Steel cried out "What are you doing down here?"

"Bleeding," Craft sniped as passed the armor less Steel to get out of the room he was in. "Sorry, where are we?" Without his enchanted armor, Steel was a green stallion with a silver mane and a steely grey helm on his flank.

"Just outside the cargo hold," The green stallion took notice of Crafts ear. "Damn, let me take a look at that, kid." Taking ahold of Craft's head, Steel started bandaging his ear. "What happened? Half your ear is torn off."

"Got caught under a crate or something, cargo probably." A scowl took over Craft's face. "Water was rising too fast to wait for help. Ow!" Craft winced as Steel tied a bandage around his head pinning the ear down.

"Sorry," Steel stepped back from Craft, surveying his work. "Alright kid, we need to locate other survivors and get them off the ship."

"Problem," Craft rose his hoof. "The ship is taking on water. Do they even put life rafts on airships?"

"If not, then we'll have to make one," Steel turned and made his way up the sloped floor of the hall. "Let's find ponies first, then we'll worry about that."

"Right behind you," Craft followed Steel up the wrecked hall. "Do we know what happened?"

"No," Steel grunted as he lifted debris out of the way. "I felt two explosions, one was the balloon. Don't know about the other."

"Makes sense," Craft said as they worked their way around rubble to a wrecked stair way and climbed up to the next level.

"We should start checking rooms now," Steel motioned to a door in the hall.

"Right." Craft moved to a splintered door and shoved it open and checking the messed room. "Nothing here."

"Same," Steel called from across the way.

"Two explosions," Craft muttered as duo moved to the next doors.

"What's that?" Steel asked, looking into a room that had its door ripped off.

"Two explosions," Craft repeated. "One was the balloon, that had to be the second."
He shoved a door out of his way.

"Right, we started falling after that," Steel paused and looked at Craft. "The first may have been an attack."

"Unless pegasi placed a bomb on deck. I think we would have noticed."

"Then what are you suggesting?"

"Look at the facts," Craft starts pacing the hall. "Loose fittings this morning, causing a delay, and crashing just now. You tell me."

Steel pondered on that thought. "Can you tell if the engine was tampered with?"

"No," craft stopped pacing and moved to another door. "I've only got an idea of how a boiler works. Besides you'll need a forensics lab."

"You don't know? I thought that you–!"

"Of course I don't know," Craft pulled his head out of the room he was checking. "I'm only fif–." Craft snaps his gaze to his right as his ear twitched, and raised a forehoof to cut off Steel. "Did you hear that?" Whispered Craft.

"What did you hear?" Steel whispered back. His eyes searching the hall as well.

"Don't know, was talking," Craft started creeping down the hall. "Don't think it was the ship though."

"H-help." The cry was barely more than a whisper.

"That's somepony!" Steel whisper shouted as he started running . Both guards ran down the hall, slamming into the door that they heard the soft cry come from. "It's jammed." Steel's hooves scraping on the floor as his tried to force the door. "Hello? are you in there?"

"Yes! yes! I'm here! Thank Celestia," a mare's voice rang out. "The door, it's stuck."

"Okay, what's your name?" Steel looked around the area for something to use on the door.

"M-my name's Cakemix," The mare said. "Can you get me out?"

"Yes, we will get you out of there," Steel assured the mare. "Cakemix, are you injured?"

"I-I think my foreleg is broken," Cakemix responded.

"I'll take a look at it when we get you out okay?" Steel said, after not finding anything to bust the door open with.

"Okay," Cakemix whimpered

Steel turned to Craft and saw that his eyes were scanning the wall. "What are you looking at?"

"A crack in the wall," Craft turned his eyes to Steel. "It goes right to the doorframe."

"A crack's keeping the door closed?" Steel deadpanned.

"Yes," Craft returned the deadpan. "Actually it is." Craft pointed at the crack in the doorframe to show that the broken wall had shifted and was wedged against the door.

"…Oh," Steel said, rubbing the back of his head. "The cracked wall is."

"Yep," Craft went to the door and started pushing on different spots on it.

"What are you doing?" Cakemix called though the door. "Please, just open it."

"Don't worry Cakemix," Craft called back to the mare. "It was Cakemix, right?"

"Yes it is," The mare confirmed.

"I'm just finding the right place to hit the door," Craft pressed a diffrent spot.

"Right by the doorknob," Steel throws in. "Like we were trained."

"Ever tried opening a crooked door?"

"You have to push on a different spot," Cakemix said.

"Exactly," Craft praised. "Thought so." Craft mumbled to himself, having found the spot to hit. "Cakemix, could you stand back?"

"One sec," The sound of shuffling came from the room, along with a whimper of pain. "O-okay, I'm ready!"

"Never thought I'd get a mare to say that," Craft mumbled to himself before clearing his throat. "Alright, Steel, you need to hit right here." Craft pointed at the door next to the crack.

"Not strong enough to get it, kid?" Steel smirked.

"You're a bloody mountain of a pony, I'm not," Craft said with a twitch of a brow. "Hit the door." After Craft moved out of his way, Steel turned his back to the door. " you're going to want to aim high." Steel's only response was a grunt. Quickly, Steel bucked the door as hard as he could.

The door flew open with a groan of protest as it ground against the fractured wall. When the door got to be perpendicular to the wall, it snapped from the shifting of the wall, earning an ‘eep’ of fear from Cakemix. The ship, as it shifted along the crack, splintered and tore apart as the wall and the ceiling rain bits of wood, dust and metal on the ponies. After the ship had settled Steel spoke up.

"Everypony alright?"

"Well, I'm not stuck under anything, so yeah, I'm good."

"I-I've been better."

____________________________________

The Old Sea Hag, despite it's small crew, was rather large, having been designed to be ran by a minimum crew of five to seven if need be. And as a result of the Sea Hag's size, the halls were a mess. Some halls were almost untouched, while others had cracks just waiting to slip and tear.

After retrieving Cakemix from her room and setting her leg, the trio continued through the ship. As the trio climbed through the halls, avoiding the cracks as much as possible, Craft had taken point.

Looking over his shoulder, Craft suppressed a chuckle at seeing the light purple unicorn mare, who was not so much leaning, but pressing up against the buff green earth pony known as Steel while keeping her sky blue eyes on the floor.

As Craft was distracted by the two ponies, he barely heard the floor creak ahead of him. Craft, turning his head to investigate, ducked as a wrench swung right over his black mane. Reacting quickly, Craft reared up, using a foreleg to pin the wrench to the wall and the other to smack the minty attacker's face, knocking him onto his rump.

"Wait!" The mint pony cried, forehooves on his muzzle. "Wait! I'm the assistant engineer! I can help you!" Opening his pinkish eyes, he saw the wrench being pointed at his face.

"Steel?" Craft asked over his shoulder.

"He's one of the crew," Steel said with Cakemix nodding in agreement, her pink mane bouncing. Craft pulled the wrench away from the mint pony and offered a hoof.

"Thanks," The minty stallion took Craft's hoof and pulled himself up. "Can I have my wrench back?"

"No," Craft pocketed the tool in his hoodie. "You tried to take my head off with it, Minty."

"It's Light," 'Minty' protested. "Besides I missed."

"Do you even know how much damage a wrench can do to a pony!?" Craft yelled. "You could've killed me!"

"I was aiming for a taller pony," Light said before waving a hoof at the other two ponies. "With how heavily you trot you should be the size of… Steel? Over there." Not quite recognising the guard without his armor.

"Light!" Cakemix spoke up before Craft or Steel could. "That's not the point!" Taking a breath to calm down. "You could have seriously hurt him. Apologize."

"Fine," Light rolled his eyes, as he ran a hoof through his gray mane. "I'm sorry for aiming at a taller pony."

"Why you–!" Craft made to tackle the mint pony.

"ENUFF!" Steel yelled, commanding the attention of every pony. "Light! Stop antagonizing the kid."

"Ki–?"

"Craft!" Steel turned his glare to the younger guard. "You are a guard, keep a level head."

"Yes sir," Craft recognized Steel's tone, the tone of a superior officer, and stood at attention. Seeing Craft defeated, Light opened his mouth and promptly shut it when steel turned his glare to him.

"Have you seen anypony else?"

"No one living," Light let out a sad sigh. "I went up top after finding Bolts. The captain and Nav are dead too."

"Did you see where we are?" Craft cut in before Steel could ask.

"Some forest lake," Light informed. "I think, I saw Mt. Canter."

"So we're still in Equestria," Steel spoke up. "That's good we'll just have to wait for a pegasus to fly over."

"Fly over? We're in a forest, Light said with some disbelief. "They can't see us!"

"A forest lake," Craft countered, raising a hoof. "Lakes can be seen in a forest from above…" Craft trailed off into thoughtful mumbling. "That could be bad. Hey Steel, do you remember what the captain said about the route we were taking?"

"Yea," Steel paused to think back to earlier. "He said that we'd have to take shorter course over the Macintosh hills and the Ever… free… forest. Shit."

"That's just great."