We arose the next day before the sun yet again. And for the last time we went through our morning routine since we began sharing a room together in Harmony. There wasn't much for deep thoughts, just relief that we would finally be on our way from Harmony.
We left our room only a few minutes after the rise of the sun. Sunset and Hot Sticks were waiting for us at the airship back to the surface. Pleasant greetings were exchanged, and quick checking with the others to see if anything was going to be left behind. We didn't bother to announce that we would be leaving to any pony, Alicorn or otherwise. Apparently, they would know where we were at based on where our bank account was accessed.
We weren't going to simply walk out of the city, it would take us most of the day just to walk beyond its borders. An airship would have defeated our purpose in wanting to travel cross country, so it wasn't an option either. What we were going to do instead was sail out, as there was a river that flowed north along the path that we wished to take. The plan was to take a boat out of Harmony and be dropped off at a town just beyond where the Foal Mountains and Canterhorn Peak made a valley.
However, when we made it to the dock within the city we were greeted by a familiar face, though slightly different form.
"Planning on a little sailing?" Water Shadow said with a small sheaf of wheat sticking out of the side of her mouth. She was back in earth pony form, and just casually standing on her hind legs with her back against the wall of a building. She looked much more relaxed than I had previously seen her.
"Are you offering a lift out?" I asked in behalf of the group. Water Shadow was an Alicorn, but she was a lesser Alicorn, which made her much more bearable to deal with. She was the least Alicorn-y Alicorn I had met to this point actually.
"I was guessing you would be taking this route out of the city. My ship is ready to sail," she replied, getting a little more upbeat towards the end. "You aren't the only ones eager to get away from this place. I won't be leaving my ship, but I am willing to sail you where you want to go, before I head back towards ocean harbors and the open sea. I don't like coming this far inland, I might have been born an Earth Pony, but I can't stand too much dry land."
"I think we would enjoy your company for a while Shadow," Sunset smiled at her. "You and I rarely see one another anymore. It has been, what? Forty years since we last saw each other, before we were all summoned her again this time. And spending time here, with the Greaters close at hoof, is not exactly the best of places to catch up."
"The Greaters can go to Tartarus," Water Shadow said, spitting out her bit of wheat to the ground. "They know I want nothing to do with this place. Yet every time I am here they try to reel me into staying."
She looked at me and Biblo apologetically.
"No offense to either of you," she pardoned herself. "It was a nice wedding, and you have nothing to do with me not wanting to be here. I couldn't really talk to you at your wedding, but I hoped to get a chance to get to know you two better, and give my own advice as an immortal just trying to keep her sanity."
"You are a bit more snappy now that we are away from the Greaters," Hot Sticks observed.
"Because if you put one hoof in the wrong place with them they will find some way of making you pay for it," she said with frustration, glaring up at the Tree."I behave myself, and try to just quietly refuse their suggestions when they are standing right there, but I won't hold my tongue about them when I am free from them."
"Well, your assistance in getting out of this city will be appreciated, Shadow," Sunset said while still smiling. "And I am sure we all will be glad to put some more distance between them and us."
"But never free of them," Water Shadow said with regret. "They always keep a hook in you, and you can never snap that line, no matter how you fight and pull."
She turned and gestured us towards her ship. It looked simple enough at first glance, but showed some oddities as you looked harder. It looked to be made of metal, which wasn't uncommon. It had places for teams of rowers, two sails, and I was pretty sure there was an engine on the thing as well. Having all three of those options available at once was kind of strange, this thing would definitely move one way or another though. There were what looked like large fishing poles fastened to various areas around the deck. There was a simple looking wheel for steering, which was flanked by a console of some sort. I guessed the console operated the engine. The ship was about eight ponylengths wide at the widest point and perhaps twenty-five pony lengths long from bow to stern. There were also large mounted guns at both the bow and the stern. I had never actually seen guns outside diagrams in books.
"Welcome to the Sea Lion," Water Shadow told us happily. "She can navigate either ocean or rivers with ease, and she is my home. I can take you as far as the Foal Canterhorn strait, but not any further, she isn't built to navigate the river beyond that point, gets too narrow and has hidden mud banks. She can move pretty fast, and we should have you there by sometime late tomorrow."
"Why do you have guns on your ship?" I said looking over the strange weapons.
"When you get out in the ocean there are pirates, visible guns are a deterant," she explained looking at the weapons. "There isn't much to steal from me, I don't keep a lot of wealth on hoof. I have an account at the bank if I really need bits for something. I have no clue how much is in it, I don't really care either. But pirates will still make attempts on other sailing vessels that don't look like they have much for cargo if they are in a lean streak. Occassionally I will scare some off from attacking others as well."
"Can't you just do all that with magic?" Biblo asked apprehensively. "No gun can match what you are capable of lashing out."
"I don't like using magic except as a last resort," Water Shadow replied. "I have never been comfortable with Alicorn powers, as far as I am concerned I am still an Earth Pony. So I only unleash those powers when I am in a particularly dire strait. Plus, it is kind of hard to be low key, and not notable, when you are doing magic as an Earth Pony. Please, don't push me about it. I'll dump you into the drink if you do."
We all got aboard, and Water Shadow started up the engine, as well as pulled up the anchor, from the console. Then she took to the wheel, standing on her hind legs and using her forelegs to manipulate it. The engine ran silently, and you had to listen extremely closely to hear its soft hum.
The remaining four of us simple watched as the city moved by on the bank. The ship moved quickly, as Water Shadow had said it would. The quick movement of the ship seemed to cause Hot Sticks a great deal of trouble. He had difficulty walking without tripping, and finally just laid down on the deck, looking ill. I had no problem with the the movement below our hooves, ponies with wings had a higher natural since of balance. Sunset seemed equally unbothered. Biblo was fine as well, perhaps because of my magic still coursing through her, granting that same sense of balance.
We didn't speak much as the ship went through the city. Biblo and I eventually took to the railings, with our pipes, watching the city zoom by. Sunset sat by Water Shadow quietly, observing as well. Hot Sticks eventually excused himself and went down an opening into the hull below, hoping that not seeing the world move by would calm his stomach.
It still took us nearly two hours to clear the city, even moving as quickly as we were. It was a relief to be able to look up and not seeing the looming branches of the Great Tree over our heads. There was still scattered signs of civilization on the banks of the river, farm houses here and there, as well as other ships and boats moving about the river. In the far distance, in front of us, Canterhorn Peak loomed. Behind us the Great Tree still took up much of the horizon.
Eventually Water Shadow turned the engine off, and instead unfurled the sails. She would make frequent trips back to the wheel, but no longer stood constantly at it.
"It feels good to be back out on the water, and away from that Discord-be-damned city," Water Shadow said happily, breaking the long silence. "We will sail a few more hours till the sun starts to set, then I will throw anchor for the night. Maybe see about a bit of fishing. There are plenty of sturgeon in this river, and I wouldn't mind something a bit larger than sardines and salad for food."
"How big is a sturgeon typically?" Biblo asked with curiosity.
"Typical ones are about half as long as a pony, and weigh about as much as a year old foal," Water Shadow replied, making gestures to indicate their size with her hooves. "They can get massive though, several pony lengths and ponyweights. The biggest I ever encountered was nearly the size and weight of this ship."
"What do you do with fish that big?" I asked with astonishment. I was used to eating fish I could easily pick up and eat with my hooves. What she described was well beyond that.
"For the really massive ones, nothing, I leave those be," the blue pony replied. "The more typical ones I will eat over time, carve off parts and cook them. One such fish is good for several meals. I will occasionally trade them to griffins, dragons, Klugians, and others. I just trade for supplies I need to keep my ship shipshape. I don't like having to go inland to go find a bank, so I try to stay self sufficient."
"And you have been doing this your whole life?" Biblo asked. "Do you ever take on a crew? I see you have places for rowers."
"Yes, to both questions," Water Shadow replied. "I was a fisherpony before all this Alicorn nonsense, I will be a fisherpony until the day I finally go mad, or there is no sea left to sail, whichever comes first."
"I hope that we all will have passed on before the day there is no more sea," Sunset said morbidly as she looked off in the distance. "And let's hope your day of madness is a long way yet to come."
Biblo and I looked at each other sadly as Sunset finished speaking. Would that be our fate in the end? You either outlive the world, or become a monster that needs to be put down, if something else doesn't kill you first. This conversation was not one that we wanted to be a part of right now. We were already trying to figure out how we were going to cope with eternity. Water Shadow seemed to notice our discomfort and looked at us sympathetically.
"He might be courteous, and not looking through my cargo, but there is medicine down below that might help your friend with his seasickness," Water Shadow said, finding something to change the conversation. "On the far end of the hull below there is a box with Meadowbrook's symbol on it, in it there is a tincture marked as amplified ginger, give him that, it will help."
We thanked her, and made our way down below. Below deck was poorly lit, but my night vision made it easy to find my way around. Suprisingly it seemed that Biblo had even better night vision than I did, and was able to move about as if the cargo hold was brightly lit. It gave me a strange theory about myself, perhaps my own abilities were hindered by my anti-magic ability in some way. Biblo on the other hoof would be absorbing my abilities that were inherient to Thestrals without having that same anti-magic interfering with them. Which would make her functionally more Thestral than I was, since she could actually use the abilities to their full extent. I wondered if she would be capable of dream walking, something that all members of my tribe were supposed to be able to do with training, but I had never been able to accomplish.
Hot Sticks was too miserable for conversation, and had also vomited more than once while down here. We found the amplified ginger where it was supposed to be and had him swallow it. Over the course of a few minutes he seemed to be doing better, but was exhausted from feeling ill, and soon fell asleep. We had no reason to wake him, and let him recover with some rest.
Dark confined places like this were naturally soothing to Thestrals. Some primal tie back to when our ancestors made their homes in caves for the day as they slept. Yes, I had some issues with claustrophobia in the past month, but the reasons for those were gone now. Despite the fact I spent most daylight hours awake, my own circadian rhythm still wanted me to be nocturnal, and being in a place that was an ideal nesting spot made me drowsy, a response that was also shared by my wife, being Thestral minded herself.
We opted then to obey our bodies' demands, and take a nap. There wasn't any need for us to be awake right now, and while we could be looking at the view over the railing of the ship, that had long gotten dull. We nestled up close together, and laid down to sleep while we awaited the setting of the sun.
***
We awoke together, ears erect, to an unusual sound. We both silently looked about the cargo hold to determine its source. We didn't see anything that might have caused it, and there wasn't any sign of Hot Sticks.
"What do you think that was?" Biblo asked me.
I stood up and noticed that the ship was no longer moving other than with the waves.
"I think that was the sound of the motor for the anchor," I relaxing my body with a smile, as I realized the likely source. "It must sound much louder below deck than above. That must mean that it is now sundown."
Biblo relaxed as well then. She then stood up and gave me a playful nibble on my neck, which made me giggle. Then she pulled back her head with a sigh.
"I suppose we don't have enough privacy to do any exercise right now," she pouted. "Guess we should go up above and see what every pony is up to right now."
I nodded my head in agreement, but did take a quick playful nibble in return to her neck, which elicited a giggle from her as well, perking up her mood. We then made our way back up the stairs into the early evening air.
"Welcome back, sleepyheads," Sunset called to us as we got on deck. "I had to go check to make sure you were both alright when you stayed down below. It had completely slipped my mind that you are supposed to be nocturnal, or at least Pearl is supposed to be, which I guess makes you both."
"I always found that odd myself," Hot Sticks chimed in from where he was sitting by the railing. He seemed to be in better health than earlier, and was now smoking his pipe. "It always seemed strange to see a Thestral up during daylight hours consistently, but I never asked about it."
"I live exclusively around day dwellers, that makes it necessary. It isn't my natural preference, but it is what I must do " I explained. "I kept fairly nocturnal hours up to the point that I reached Starlight's Folly, when I got there I started trying to stay awake during the day more."
"I hadn't even realized until today that my eternal clock had inverted," Biblo said as she looked up at the fading light with a smile. "Or how much better my vision in low light had gotten. Maybe we can start switching to a more nocturnal schedule after we get settled in at Crystal Heart. There are still plenty of ponies awake before midnight, and plenty of shops that stay open fairly late. We could function, especially since we wouldn't be concerned about reporting to any employer in the morning for work."
Biblo tilted her head in thought then, as she continued to look up at the sky. She then looked around at what was on the banks of the river. We were in the middle of a particularly wide stretch of the river, and the banks, while visible, were much further away then when we had gone to sleep.
"We are pretty isolated right now," she said to Sunset cautiously. "Do you think now is a good time to try out the transformation disguise on me? No pony but us would see you do it here, and I would like to spend as much time as I can in that form, before I have to go back to this one."
"Still extremely eager I see," Sunset said with a laugh. "I suppose you are right about this being a good place to do it. How about you, Pearl? Ready to see your wife in a form more reflective of her mindset?"
I actually didn't know how I would feel about seeing Biblo as a Thestral. I had conflicted feelings about my own tribe. But Biblo wanted to do this a lot, and had been excited about doing it since she learned about it.
"It will make her happy, which makes me happy," I said with a smile. "Go ahead and make with the magic."
"Alright then," Sunset said to Biblo. "Stand in the center of the deck, and every other pony give her space. This will take but a second for me to do."
Biblo hurried to where she was told and the rest if us migrated to the railing at the bow of the ship. Once every pony was in place Sunset took a step towards Biblo, and a light lit up around Sunset despite her current lack of a horn. That same light then enveloped Biblo as well. Then there was a quick blinding flash that made all of us have to close our eyes.
I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to clear the spots from my vision, then turned my gaze to where my wife had been. My breath caught in my throat as I did so.
Where once a pink Crystal Pony stood now stood a Thestral of grey fur. Her mane had become more bleached out, paler, though still yellow. Her wings were a dark black, and standing erect with her excitement. The green of her eyes had been substituted with a bright yellow which caught the light at times, making them seem to glow. Her facial features were still recognizable, despite the changes to her coat and eyes, along with a new pair of fangs. Her ears had developed tufts, and were standing straight up.
She took herself in as best she could. Looking at each foreleg and examining the fur. She turned her head to see her wings and laughed with joy as she saw them. She tried to move them, and the unfamiliar limbs responded stiffly. She frowned slightly at their stiffness, and touched one at the base of the wing, which caused a shiver to go through her body, and a look of bliss to come on her face.
"I hadn't realized how sensitive wings were in that spot," she giggled to us bashfully. "I will have to remember that for the next time we are exercising, Pearl. Sunset, why is my fur grey? I don't mind at all, I actually like it, but why grey?"
"Bright pink is not a common color for Thestrals," Sunset explained. "Grey is an extremely common color though. The idea of a disguise is to blend in with the tribe, my current form ignoring all this, I know. So grey being the most common color makes it the best choice. Pearl's coloration is actually fairly uncommon among Thestrals as well, if you didn't know. It is not an unheard of color though, bright pink is an unheard of color."
Biblo nodded, accepting the explanation, and went back to trying to make her wings behave. They were still standing erect and she was only getting twitches out of them.
"You are too excited," I told her. "Your wings go erect when you are excited, it is called a wing boner. If you aren't used to your wings it is going to be near impossible to get them to relax and behave until you calm down a little. It is a normal thing, don't worry."
"Oh," Biblo replied with another deep red blush appearing on her now grey fur. The change in her form was not disconcerting to me as I worried it might be. She was still clearly Biblo to me, and her joy made me feel warm inside.
She then walked over to me, and very deliberately put a hoof up on the base of my wing, causing a shiver of pleasure to pass through me. She smiled at me flirtatiously as she did it, knowing exactly what she had just done.
"And what do you think of this form?" She asked as she touched her nose to mine, causing another ripple of pleasure.
"It definitely has its own charm," I said taking a breath to calm the feelings of pleasure she was causing on purpose. "I love you in any form. Though I admit, I am looking forward to showing you how sensitive those wings are," the last of what I said caused her to blush again. She might look more a vicious predator of the night, but she was still adorable when she blushed.
"Do you two need to go down below and have some privacy?" Water Shadow finally spoke up with a laugh. "I have no objections to you two bumping fuzzies on my deck, but I don't think your other companions want to see that."
Biblo and I both pulled back from one another, wings erect, blushing fiercely then.
"Maybe in a while, not yet though," I managed to get out. Biblo actually looked disappointed as I said it, no modesty about it at all. She was bursting with sexual energy right now, and I second guessed myself as I looked at her.
"I suppose I could stand to relax a little," Biblo said with a sigh, glancing at her erect wings. "I want to be able to move these as I choose after all, and see if I am capable of using them to get airborne."
"If you fall into the drink, trying to fly, I hope you can swim, I am not fishing you out," Water Shadow told her.
"At least it won't hurt as much," Biblo replied back, with a glance towards the river. She then went over to the railing near Hot Sticks, and began looking through her life pack, pulling out her pipe a moment later. I went over and joined her in the same activity.
Water Shadow decided to start setting her fishing lines after that, she had a pail of small fish ready, and began attaching them to various poles as bait for the larger fish she hoped to catch. We silently watched her with curiosity. I had never seen a pony actually fish before, the fish I caught myself I had to catch in small streams with my mouth. So I was curious about how it was done with much larger fish, in larger bodies of water.
"I am going to set four different poles," Water Shadow said as she worked. "I will have Hot Sticks, myself, and Sunset each watch different ones, our two Thestrals can stand at the last. I doubt Thestrals will have the strength to pull a large struggling fish out of the water. It takes either a lot of strength or magic to get them out of the water, at least with poles like these ones. If the line goes tight, just call some pony else over to help bring the fish in."
We all took our assigned positions, and began to wait. This was not the most exciting activity. Between the boredom, and the drug, Biblo's wings did relax and settle down to her sides. She noticed it, and tried again to move them about, this time with much greater success. She moved her wings tentatively, moving them in arcs, flexing them, and moving them forward to look at the webbing. She stared with rapt fascination at them.
"It is weird," she said as she continued to play with her wings. "They feel like they are just a natural part of me, but at the same time they are these other limbs that I never had before. It is really hard to describe. It is completely natural, and alien at the same time. It is like this is what I am meant to be, but I just completely unused to being me. As I said, I don't know how to phrase it right."
"I think I felt something like that when I first was transformed by Starlight," I said as I watched her play with her wings. "It felt right, like everything was the way things were suppose to be, but at the same time it was different than what I had known up to that point. I about had a panic attack the first time I realized I was dealing with an estrus cycle."
Biblo and the rest broke out laughing at that snippet of information. I blushed with embarrassment, I hadn't been that much older than I normally would have started having estrus the first time. Every mare had to deal with estrus, I just had no parent there to explain to me what was going on.
"I am sorry Precious," Biblo apologized, still laughing. "That isn't really funny, estrus is rough. I started estrus earlier than most of my classmates, and they made fun of me. They called me Bimbo Bottom, because I was so ready to raise my tail for whoever wanted to sample. I never actually did anything back then though. It is going to be so good this time around to actually be able to satisfy myself."
"Bimbo Bottom," Sunset choked out laughing. "Oh my, that is so mean. I was a school bully once, and that would have been mean for me."
"It was probably appropriate, unfortunately," Biblo said grinning. "I was allowed to be home schooled through my estrus periods. My parents were terrified I would get pregnant if I was out and about during my estrus periods. I even kept secluded at home after I was done with schooling during those times. Actually, with that in mind, they might still be terrified I am going to come home pregnant."
"I thought you got your enhanced drive from that nurse," I said looking at her suspiciously.
"I did," Biblo confirmed. "I used to only be this way during my estrus periods, now I am all the time, estrus or not. I can only imagine what the actual estrus is going to be like. And you picked up the same drive as me, Wifey. You and I are going to be really busy in less than two moons, so don't make any other plans."
"Well, don't go having foals," Water Shadow said with bitterness. "Patina might be able to deal with outliving her progeny, but for most of us, it is too painful to deal with."
"If I am not aggravating any old wounds, can I ask if either of you two Alicorns had foals in the past?" Hot Sticks asked Sunset and Water Shadow. Biblo and I turned our eyes to the two ponies in question, eager to hear the answer.
"I never did," Sunset said as she mournfully turned her eyes to Water Shadow.
Water Shadow sat still for a moment. She was visibly upset. She looked like she was about to have an anxiety attack, she was breathing long steady breaths and had her eyes shut tight. She opened them after about a minute of steady breathing, and the rest of of silent, and took one last deep breath.
"I said I would tell you about why I don't like Alicorns," she finally said. "I suppose this is as good a time as any. Just don't tell me it is all in the past, and I should let it go. I have made my peace with it as best I can, but some hurts never go away."
All of us simply nodded, save Sunset, who just continued to look sadly on her old friend.
"The past is blurry, most of it I can barely remember, or not remember at all. It is a blessing, and a curse, that time makes memories fade away. You two young immortals will discover someday you can't remember your foalhoods anymore, or when you first discovered your own immortality. It will take time, but these memories will fade. Ponies, even immortal ones, aren't supposed to hold on to all their memories as time passes on. I doubt you can remember now much of what occurred in your early foalhood. But sometimes there is a memory you can't stop thinking about, something so intense it won't go away. For me that is the memory of how I lost my family.
"I don't know what brought me to ascend to Alicornhood, it seems like that would be important enough to remember, but apparently not. But I do remember that I was a happily married mare when it happened.
"I remember their names; there was Shadow Trick, who was my mother. She shared the same blue fur with me, but was a unicorn. My grandmother had been a good friend of Starlight Glimmer's before Starlight's own ascension, and Starlight treated my mother as a neice, calling her baby Lulamoon. There was my husband, Sea Foam. He was a Pegasus sailor, and he was always good to me. He taught me to love the sea in my youth. I can still, somehow, remember the day I got my cutie mark, a wave, when I realized I wanted to spend my life with him on the sea. We had a daughter, Sea Star. She was the most precious little Pegasus filly. I remember I was so stressed when she started flying, and I felt so helpless because I couldn't fly to keep up with her."
Water Shadow paused to wipe away a tear, and kept silent for several seconds to steady her breathing.
"I am sorry," she apologized. "This is still hard for me, after all this time. I still remember them so vividly, despite forgetting almost everything else about that time."
She took another deep breath and continued.
"As I said, I don't remember what caused me to ascend to being an Alicorn, but I know that I kept with my family after that, still in our little fishing village. I was so happy at first, I could fly with my husband and daughter, I could fight back storms that threatened our village, and I could calm the seas when they got too rough. I thought I could do anything for my family and my village.
"But then the Time of Madness came. There had been many, many ponies that had ascended to Alicorn in the decades leading up to that. Many more than there are Alicorns now. Such power, and immortality, is not something most ponies can really cope with well. Most went neglected as they slowly slipped into madness. Mind you, they weren't bad ponies, but they were saddled with a heavy burden, and they were not given the aid to cope with it. Madness spread like a plague among the Alicorn ranks, and the more who went mad the more who dispaired, causing more to fall to madness.
"So, the world was devastated by these mad gods and goddesses among ponies. Those of us who kept ahold of our sanity were the only ones who could confront them. That would be those Alicorns who still live today. The ones who would later form the Greaters were the ones who took the lead, those of us who simply followed as directed became the Lessers. I was no great leader, I just did as I was directed to try to help.
"The conflict spread out across not only our own land, which was named Equestria back then, but to the neighboring ones as well. Klugia, the Griffin Kingdom, the Dragon Lands, all of them faced threat of our insane tribe, and all of them needed us to help drive them back.
"I was out defending one of those foreign lands, when word reached me that my own village was in the path of a mad Alicorn named Flame Star. I dropped everything I was doing and hurried back, but when I got there it was too late.
"I came home to find my village burned to the ground. I searched frantically for survivors. Most of the bodies I found were burned so badly I couldn't even identify who they were, even though I knew every pony in town by name. Finally I found one body that wasn't burned, but was still dead."
Water Shadow broke down sobbing then, unable to continue for the moment. Sunset got up and calmly walked over to her and laid down beside her, wrapping a wing around the miserable Earth Pony-Alicorn. We all sat in silence with shared sorrow as she cried. After several minutes she finally stopped crying, and quietly thanked Sunset, before she looked at the rest of us, continuing as if the interruption had not occurred.
"My little filly, Sea Star, she had been crushed by a collapsing building. She seemed like she was sleeping, but there was no life in her. I had made my peace that I would likely outlive her, but not like this. She had a whole future that was ahead of her, getting her cutie mark, reaching marehood, starting her own career, finding her special some pony, starting a family. She should have lived a long, good, safe life, with me there to protect her. But I failed her, I failed all the ponies of my family, and my village. I was supposed to be this great and powerful Alicorn who would make everything alright, and in the time of greatest need I was not there, and they were cut down in some other Alicorn's madness.
"I screamed like no creature should be capable of screaming. A great wave of magical power exploded in all directions away from me, as I held my poor filly's broken body. The remains of the town were blown away from me, and a great tidal wave went out and then back from the sea. The entire region was devastated again by my sorrow.
"And I just stayed there. I eventually got up and dug a grave by hoof for my poor Sea Star. After I placed her in it, I just stayed and wept at the grave. I have no idea how long I stayed, years, decades, I can't remember. I just stayed there crying at her grave, not sleeping and not eating.
"Eventually other Alicorns came to check on me. They had managed to contain all the mad Alicorns in Tartarus, and they came to me wondering if I was one more that needed to be contained. I told them to just leave me alone with my daughter. I didn't want to hurt any pony, but I didn't want to leave my daughter's side. That I just wanted to bind myself to that spot for all time.
"And they let me stay. For years I just stayed there, long after I had run out of tears to shed. Random ponies would stop to gaze at me cautiously in the distance, but never dared approach. From time to time another Alicorn would stand at a distance, and watch me for a day or two, before departing. I just continued to stay there, for who knows how many years.
"One day, Sunset here, and another Alicorn, I think it was Starlight, but I am not sure, came and stood near me. They just watched me silently for a time, and then the other Alicorn left, leaving Sunset behind. She just laid down across from me, on the other side of my daughter's grave. She said nothing, she just laid there as I did, and watched the grave along with me.
"And so we remained, just laying there, for I don't know how long, years at least. Finally, one day Sunset stood up and walked away, again not saying anything. She came back a few minutes later, and had a bouquet of flowers in her mouth. She set the bouquet down on my daughters grave, and then sat back down.
"I just looked at the flowers that she had laid on my daughters grave for several minutes. Then I broke down crying again. I didn't think I had any tears left, but I was wrong. Sunset came over to me to lay down, and just held me as I wept again. I gripped her tightly and cried into her fur. For the first time in years I spoke, and I begged her to tell me why my daughter had to die. She just kept silently holding me, she didn't have an answer for me. I just kept crying until I ran out of tears again.
"Finally she told me that she never knew my daughter, but she could see how much I loved her. She said she was sure that Sea Star must have loved me very much as well. She told me that Sea Star must have been so proud of me the day I became an Alicorn, the day I showed that the sea was my domain, and that I became part of the thing I loved so much. Sunset told me she couldn't begin to understand what I was going through, but there was at least one thing left that I loved, and I was neglecting it. If I loved the sea anything like I loved my daughter, then the sea must love me back just as much, and I was turning my back on it. Nothing would ever make anything better about who I had lost, but there was still the sea, and it needed me.
"I placed a monument stone to my daughter, and my village that day. Carved an inscription so deep into the stone that nothing would ever wear it away. Then I finally departed that place, and have never returned. I fear that if I ever go back, I will stay there forever. It is still so tempting."
She hung her head in sorrow for a long moment, while all the rest of us looked on her in sharing her sorrow. Then she looked up, first at the fishing lines, then to us.
"It is getting late, and it doesn't look like any fish are biting tonight," she said resignedly. "I am going to lay down for the night, down below. I will see all of you in the morning."
With that said, she retreated down the steps to the cargo hold below.
Sunset looked to each of us as we sat in silence still.
"Hot Sticks, you knew about Water Shadow's history, didn't you?" Sunset asked the Unicorn.
"Yes," he answered her simply.
"What possessed you to prompt her into talking about it then?" She asked accusingly.
"Why did you stay with her, saying nothing all that time?" He questioned in response.
"Because she needed someone to grieve with her, to feel what she was feeling," Sunset replied back quickly. "I couldn't possibly understand, but I could be there as she grieved."
"And she got a little better," Hot Sticks pointed out. "I don't claim to have accomplished anything by doing that, but she needs to share her grief with others. Her wounds are never going to go away, but she can still get better than she is now. But she has to keep opening up, and she won't do that right now if she isn't prompted. My duty is to do what I can to heal, and just because she is an immortal Alicorn doesn't mean I shouldn't treat her the same as any other pony suffering. You can be angry at me if you want, but I will do what I can to try to heal the hurting, even if I don't live to see the wound healed."
Sunset just gave him a long considering look, before finally turning and walking to the other side of the ship. Biblo and I had no words. We simply held one another, and silently hoped that we would never have to face such hurts ourselves.