Lost at Sea
Chapter 2: Lost at Sea
Admiral Biscuit
Aurora always stayed out until last, in order to make sure that all her team had gotten to shore safely. Keeping track after a big storm when other shifts and reserve ponies and the auxiliary got called out was especially difficult, especially if stragglers had arrived after the storm had started. That was why she tried to put her own eyes on everypony who flew out, and why everypony knew to stick with their wingmare.
Neither Cloud Climber nor Star Catcher had flown to shore.
They might not have heard the signal. The storm was already many leagues north of Chonamare, and they’d been at the very front of the storm.
Aurora wasn't looking forward to flying all the way to the front and then around to tell them the fight was over—but that inconvenience was better than losing a pair of weathermares.
She turned to Monarch. “Go back to the tavern and make sure that nopony drinks too much. If I don't come back with Cloud Climber and Star Catcher, we're gonna have to do a search. Get everypony ready to go and send somepony—send a couple ponies—down to the fishing docks to tell the sailors.”
Monarch nodded and rocketed off towards town. She knew as well as anypony how the weather teams got after they'd successfully fought off a big storm. As often as not, it was the sailors or townsponies who were buying the celebratory drinks. She wasn't looking forward to telling them that the celebration was over, at least until their wayward companions were found.
As she got close, she realized that she needn't have worried. A few pegasi were still circling around above the tavern, looking out towards the ocean. Of course they know not everypony's come back. They know who was on duty with us.
Inside, nopony was eating or drinking. Conversations were quiet, and as soon as she opened the door, every ear turned to her.
“Cloud Climber and Star Catcher aren't back yet,” she announced, although of course everypony in the tavern had already figured that out. “Aurora is flying around to the front of the storm and hopefully they just didn't hear the horn over all the noise.”
“We ought to search.” Twinkle Bloom said.
“We're gonna, as soon as we find out if they're really gone or if they just didn't hear the horn.” Monarch flicked her tail—Aurora hadn't said to get a search party in the air right away, but it wouldn't hurt. “I need a dozen volunteers who'll go back alongside the storm to look. And a couple of ponies to fly down to the docks to tell the sailorponies to be looking, too, as soon as they can put back out to sea.
“But we shouldn't fly off right away. If everypony's flying around looking on her own, it's only gonna be worse.”
Assembling a search team was no trouble at all; every pegasus in the pub volunteered. She quickly picked the oldest and most experienced, and had them out the door before Star Catcher landed alone.
“She was right behind me,” Star Catcher said. “That's what I told Aurora. We'd gotten separated by the big cumulonimbus cloud on the front of the storm, and I was worried about her, 'cause the storm was so wild. After the horn call, I saw her coming under the cloud, and then she got hit by a bunch of rain and hail and when it cleared off, she wasn't there any more. I didn't see her in the water, either.
“I knew that somepony was gonna come looking for us, so I kept circling around where I was, and I was calling for her and I kept an eye towards the ocean hoping that I could find her. And then when Aurora came, I told her what had happened, and now she's circling and holding position.”
Monarch nodded. “Get inside and eat some stew. You're almost done in.”
“Not until we find her!” Star slammed her hoof on the floor. “I can’t—“
“You’re right.” It wasn’t what Monarch wanted, and she was sure Aurora would be mad, too. If it was Aurora lost in the storm, I’d be going after her.
Besides, if she said no, like as not Star would fly off anyway.
“Twinkle, you get some food together. If you can’t get it on one of the fishing boats that’s going out to search, have a couple of pegasi knock together a cloud and tow it out. Star, you know the way. Let’s get the search team over the water.”
With star at the lead, the rescue brigade emptied out of the tavern and took to the sky again, quickly climbing above Chonamare as they headed back to sea.
As they flew over the harbor, they looked down to see Captain Disko raising her sails. Harbor ponies were quickly throwing off the spring lines and shoving the boat back from the dock.
The Merry Ambree wasn't the only one making ready to leave, either. Three of the other fishing boats were hubs of activity as their crews prepared to put out to sea on a rescue mission, even though the tail of the storm was still raging outside the harbor and waves were crashing over the breakwall.
• • •
The pegasi searched the sea and sky until nightfall, and the fishing boats patrolled throughout the night with lanterns blazing high atop their masts, but nopony found Cloud. It was if the ocean or the storm had completely swallowed her up.