Biblo and I stayed awake through the evening as each of our companions went below deck to go to sleep. There was plenty we could talk about quietly to pass the time, and a few activities.
Biblo did make small attempts at flying, hovering anyway. I demonstrated how to hover for her, hovering about three pony lengths above the deck, and she excitedly made her own attempt. She had to try for some time before she managed to get herself off the ground, but eventually she got herself up to hovering beside me, at least she did for a brief moment. She had closed her eyes as she had made the successful attempt, and when she opened them she became so excited her wings bonered, and she dropped like a rock back on the deck. We decided to hold off on any further attempts for then, lest we wake our companions. We could still be happy knowing she was capable of flight.
Deep into the night Biblo pulled out our books that Patina had given us, and started trying to work on coming up with her additional name. I sat nearby stargazing, with a small telescope that we had received as a wedding gift as well.
I would pause on and off to just to watch my intently reading wife. She seemed very happy and content with a Thestral form still. She had actually expressed that she had full intention of taking up a Thestral form permanently, once she could get away with it, and had speculated on whether she could undergo a permanent change once she had gotten family used to the idea. Just like Water Shadow considered herself an Earth Pony, despite being an Alicorn in truth, Biblo likewise embraced the idea she was a Thestral, despite actually being a Crystal Pony. As she saw it her mind was that of a Thestral, and she should be considered what her mind reflected, not what she was born as.
"I think I have something I like," Biblo announced excitedly. "So, there is just no good way to incorporate my current name into my new name, it just doesn't work with Thestral names in any way. Thestrals tend to have names centered around certain types of plants, typically plants with spines or thorns, various night themes, the types of monsters they might hunt, spiders, caves, fungi, or fruits. I want something fiercer and also something that reflects my bond to you. I had also wanted something that reflected my abilities in some way. So I came up with this, Chimera Wort."
"I understand the Wort part as tying back to me, it would be odd having us both called Pearl, but why Chimera?" I asked as I considered the odd name.
"Chimera has two meanings," Biblo explained. "There is of course the monster, which is a fierce type. But the second is a being made up of multiple distinctive parts, or two separate genetic types. I absorb things into myself all the time, which makes me kind of made up of multiple different ponies, and I am distinctly both Crystal Pony in one way and Thestral in another. So Chimera would be an appropriate name for me."
"I think the logic works, but it is still an odd sounding name," I replied back.
"No more odd sounding than Bibulous Bottom," she said. "And just like Bibulous Bottom I can do a shortened nickname, one that I like a lot. I could go by Mera."
"That is a lot more natural sounding, I can probably get used to that nickname, though it will take time," I smiled as I accepted the option.
"I want to start using that name then," Biblo-Mera said excitedly. "I won't fault you for any slips of the tongue, I know it is going to be an adjustment. Bibulous Bottom is still my name too, just like Pearlwort is still yours, but Pearl Bottom and Chimera Wort represent us as a married couple."
"I will do my best to adjust, Mera," I said, as I came over and hugged her tightly.
***
We sat together for most the rest of the evening just talking, still trying to plan out how to handle meeting Mera's parents. As it got close to sunrise we took up positions at the railing, and continued our typical ritual for sunrises. Mera had enough control over her wings now that she wrapped a wing around me, as we sat and watched the sun come into view over the horizon.
The first of our companions awoke soon after. Hot Sticks came up on deck, and sat down beside us, joining us in satisfying our shared addiction. He looked us over briefly, taking an extra second to see Mera's wing wrapped around me in embrace.
"I see you have some more control over your wings now," he said to her. "I was awoken by a loud noise last night. That wouldn't have been you planting your muzzle on the deck trying to fly, would it?"
"I didn't smash my face into anything last night," Mera giggled. "And I did manage to fly, or at least hover, for a little bit. I got so excited I was doing it that I lost control of these things again though. I almost miss my cushy bottom, coming down on your rump like that hurts."
"Bibulous is not really descriptive of it any more, in less you have a tendency to get drunk that you haven't displayed yet," Hot Sticks laughed jokingly.
"Actually, she came up with a new name for herself last night," I informed him. "You are now talking to Chimera Wort."
"I don't believe I have ever heard of any such plant," Hot Sticks said with bemusement. "And I am familiar with a lot of obscure plants."
"Well, it isn't a name after a plant," Mera explained. "Wort is me just sharing part of my name with Pearl, and Chimera seemed an appropriate thing to call me. You can call me just Mera for short."
"I can see where you could call yourself that," Hot Sticks replied. "Mera it is then, just remember my name is Hot Sticks, just Hot Sticks, not anything related to ducks. You get my name right, and I will get yours right as well."
"If you insist," Mera said with a smile and a roll of her eyes. She shaped some smoke into the form of Hot Sticks' mask. "You haven't worn your mask in a long time anyway."
"Thank you, Miss Mera," Hot Sticks said gratefully, as he took another draw of his pipe.
"Do you know anything about where we will be getting off?" I asked the Unicorn curiously.
"There is a small harbor town near the straits, I don't recall the name, but I would assume we are being dropped off there," Hot Sticks replied back, looking out towards the north.
"Anything we should be aware of with the town?" I continued questioning.
"Not really, they likely aren't too friendly to Thestrals so the three of you will likely get a fair amount of hostility," Hot Sticks said sadly. "Mera, you are about to get a crash course in prejudice when we get there. Pearl is used to it, and knows how to keep her cool, but please try to keep your temper in check. Hopefully me traveling with you will curb some of what you would normally have to deal with."
"You are not going to pressure me to have Sunset change me back to a Crystal Pony?" Mera asked him suspiciously.
"I know you saw Pearl experience some of that prejudice in Harmony, and received some yourself by association, but it is worthwhile to have to get as well rounded an idea about how Thestrals are treated," Hot Sticks explained. "When we get into the more wooded settlements north of the strait between Canterhorn Peak and Crystal Heart you will notice a shift where there will be more acceptance, and even eagerness to have Thestrals in villages. The lands are just too wild, and Thestrals mean safety to those villages."
"So why aren't there Thestrals already in them if those villages are so eager to have Thestrals living there?" Mera asked both of us with confusion.
"Part of the reason is that Thestrals are isolationist," Hot Sticks explained. "They tend to keep to their own communities. Bad experiences with the other tribes have pushed them out of most towns. These villages are particularly isolated though, and don't always appear on maps, making them less likely to have any pony coming to them. You will find stray Thestrals who will take up residence in some of them, and that village will do much better than others in the region. But sooner or later that Thestral mare or stallion will subdue all threats in the immediate area, and as the village gets complacent about the dangers it faces without that protection, the prejudice starts again, driving the Thestral out. Soon after that same village will find themselves again at the mercy of the creatures of the forest, losing both grown ponies and foals to the woods. It is a tragedy on all sides."
"That's horrible!" Mera protested angerly. "How can those villages be so short sighted? How can the Thestrals just leave them to their fate like that? Thestrals are suppose to protect ponies."
"When you have all your neighbors treating you like garbage, refusing to do business with you, and at times getting violent, you feel you have no other choice but to leave," I said mournfully, remembering my own experiences traveling across the land. "They drive you out, it isn't really all your choice. If you stay you will either get hurt, or have to hurt ponies defending yourself, and if you hurt ponies you will get that much more hatred directed at you."
Mera looked at me mournfully, not knowing what else to say. Then she just wrapped me up in a tight foreleg and wing hug.
"We aren't bad ponies," she finally asserted, head still held against me. She really did think of herself completely as a Thestral when including herself among Thestrals. "Good ponies shouldn't be treated that way. I want to be able to help ponies. We shouldn't be driven out if we are trying to help. It isn't fair."
"Prejudice is never fair," Hot Sticks told her, still puffing away at his pipe. "It is reality though, and something that you will have to learn to accept one way or another. Even if you don't maintain a Thestral form, Pearl almost certainly will need to, and that means you are going to have to deal with that reality. You have potentially thousands of years of having to deal with that fear and prejudice ahead of you, best you start learning how to cope with it now. Just because you aren't an Alicorn doesn't mean you aren't still subject to be driven mad by the world. And while you might not be able to devastate a region in one blast of rage, you can be dangerous in your own right if you fall to despair. I tell you this because I know you don't want to hurt any pony, and you need to know how to learn to deal with these things earlier rather than later. We don't need another Water Shadow either, crying for an untold number of years about how the world has betrayed them, making every pony on edge that they are going to snap at any moment."
"Well, we would starve to death if we did what she did. We are still subject to needing food at least," I quipped badly to try to lift the mood.
"Precious, you were getting better at consoling words, but think you just nose-dived back down again with that one," Mera scolded me, she kept holding me tightly though. "And it isn't helping much that you are worried about the same things. I don't know how we are going to cope with this forever."
"Find what matters to you most, and latch on to it for dear life, hoping it will keep you afloat," we all turned to see Water Shadow come up to us. "And if you are curious I did hear just about everything that you said, including the lines about me."
Hot Sticks gulped in fear, but Water Shadow waved his fear off.
"Don't worry, I am not going to vent my rage on you for it," she reassured him. "I also heard what you and Sunset had for an exchange after I went below last night. Sunset seems to forget I have excellent hearing. You don't need to regret what you said, because you are likely right. I will be considering what you said for some time. You were a brave little pony to try to manipulate me, even if it was to help me. The Greaters try to manipulate me, but not in that manner, and not for those reasons. They are too scared of setting me off to try that, afraid digging up my past will drive me mad. So it was a bold move on your part, one that I have to give respect, both for guile and intention. Just don't try to be clever like that again, with me at least. Clever ponies end up in the drink."
"Yes ma'am," Hot Sticks said, still nervously. Water Shadow actually laughed and put a smile on her face. Mera, happy that the Earth Pony-Alicorn was not angry, went up and hugged Water Shadow.
"Mera, you can still absorb in this form, no touching ponies," I warned her. Mera quickly detached herself from the blue pony, abashed.
"Why are we calling her Mera now?" Water Shadow inquired, looking at my wife. My wife was sitting still processing what she had felt. I dreaded what she might possibly have absorbed.
"It is my new married name," Mera said after a second, having finished processing. "Chimera Wort, Mera for short. Pearl is now Pearl Bottom in addition to Pearlwort, I am taking a second name as well."
"Oh, I am familiar with that tradition," Water Shadow smiled. "It is sweet. I'll do my best to call you by your new name. For right now I am going to get the anchor up, and get us moving again. I promised to get you to the strait by the middle of the day. I intend to do so."
We all watched her walk over and start to work at the ship's wheel and consol, caught up in her task. After a moment we heard the soft hum of the engine again and the ship began to move.
"I am going to go find more of that ginger," Hot Sticks said with a sigh. "It does a remarkable job at keeping the seasickness away. I will be back in a few minutes," and with that he departed back below deck, leaving Mera and I sitting by ourselves at the railing, with Water Shadow off in her own world at the wheel.
"Did you absorb anything?" I cautiously asked Mera in as low a whisper as I could manage, hoping that Water Shadow wouldn't be able to hear. "Be honest with me, she isn't a pony you want to be absorbing the mental state of."
"No," Mera whispered back with a relieved sigh. "But she was feeling some odd things directed at Hot Sticks. I almost want to say she likes him, and not in a let's be friends way. But it is weird, it is hard to explain. She was actually happy with him saying what he did, not angry," she paused in thought, considering the feelings some more. "I think we should get Hot Sticks to spend more time just talking to her."
"We are not playing matchmakers with Hot Sticks and a depressed Alicorn," I asserted. Hoping against hope that Water Shadow's hearing wasn't good enough to hear what we were saying.
"It could be good for both of them," Mera insisted, still whispering. "And it isn't necessarily match making, it is just getting them to talk more. I think he can help her. We are supposed to help ponies, this might not be fighting some monster, but this is still helping ponies, and Hot Sticks wants to help her. He doesn't have any other plans right now that we would be interrupting."
"She has been this way since before most of our ancestors were even conceived of, what makes you think he can help her?" I asked.
"Because he got through to her a little, which is more than any other pony has done since Sunset," Mera said levelly still whispering. "I felt it, she hasn't had any pony do that since Sunset. She needs companionship and a shoulder to cry on. I can't be sure, but I think she is open to letting Hot Sticks be there."
I looked up at the Earth Pony commanding the ship. This was a bad idea, this was such a bad idea. This was the kind of bad idea that caused big disasters. Water Shadow had said it herself, Alicorns that despaired went crazy, and not the same kind of crazy that all the Alicorns had, the kind of crazy that involved wanting to tear the world asunder, and with the power to do just that. If Water Shadow went off the deep end..ponies would die, lots of ponies. The other Alicorns would be forced to bind her in Tartarus for all time. There was too much possible death and destruction involved to risk it.
"She is going to go mad on her own if nothing is done," Mera said sadly. She continued pleading her case in the same low whisper. "I felt that too, she is so sad, and so angry, even after all this time. I don't know how she is functioning at all. We can't do nothing. If we do something and it fails, it is just coming sooner. If we do something and it works, then it might stop it from happening altogether."
"This feels like a really bad idea," I replied back again, my resolve starting to break. I was such a doormat, and this time being a doormat might put lots of ponies in peril. Water Shadow had held herself together this long. Was it being neglectful to think that she could keep holding it together, if we just let her keep doing what she was doing? Was it crazier to try to do something that may or may not work, even if she would eventually break down if nothing was done?
"Hi Hot Sticks, hi Sunset!" Mera called out. I turned my head and saw the Unicorn and Thestral-Alicorn come up the stairs from below deck.
"Hello," Sunset answered back, voice dripping with suspicion. "That was a more excited greeting than normal. What did you do? And what is this about I should be calling you Mera now?"
"Chimera Wort, Mera for short, my new married name," my Crystal Pony turned Thestral wife replied back. "Do you like it?"
"Not any worse than being essentially named Drunk Butt I suppose," Sunset said evenly. "You didn't answer the other question. Let me rephrase it for you. What do I need to worry about now?"
"I haven't done anything," Mera replied back with a pout. "And it means spongy bottom, not drunk."
"Pearl, what do I need to worry about from your wife?" Sunset resorted to questioning me instead. I felt like sweating, but I realized I had was saved by one glorious fact, we would be getting off this ship in a few hours and Mera's plan couldn't actually be followed through.
"I am not going to out her," I told Sunset as bravely as I could. "But just to soothe your fears, what she had in mind to do isn't going to happen. She overlooked an important detail. So don't worry about it."
Sunset appraised us, while Mera looked at me. Mera then touched my side with a hoof and listened. After a few seconds she ended the touch and pouted.
"I will consider that confirmation you are right," Sunset said, looking at Mera's pout. "Excellent job by the way, Pearl. I was counting on you being a doormat, and buckling under me putting you on the spot. Good job defending your spouse."
Mera did brighten up a little at the thought that I had stood my ground defending her, and gave me a hug.
"Well, now that every other pony is awake I think it is our time to sleep," Mera said, moving away from the previous subject. "We would like our privacy now, so keep out of the cargo hold for the time being."
"Do try to keep the sound down," Water Shadow called over to us, "I hear everything on this ship, everything. Please keep that in mind, my bold little cave dwellers. I actually need to get something from the hold, so I will walk down with you just for a moment. Sunset, do you mind watching the wheel and making sure we don't go crashing into the shallows or the riverbank while I am away from it?"
Pony feathers, she had heard us! We were about to get personally confronted by her about it too. Sunset gave a sly smile to is as she walked over to the wheel, she knew her fellow Alicorn knew what was up. Mera and I fidgited for a moment as we nodded affirmation that it was alright to walk down with us.
After the three of us walked down Mera and I huddled close together, prepping ourselves for the water pony's wrath.
"I must apologize," Water Shadow said quietly, shocking us. "I am sorry you were exposed to what goes on in my head. I was actually thinking over what you two were discussing the entire time night. You were almost thrown in the drink last night, but I heard what you said about what would eventually happen. I have had so many bold ponies on my ship this trip. It has been a unique experience. I have come to a decision. Once I drop you ponies off at the strait I will be doing something that I can't believe I am I going to do. I am going to head back to Harmony, and there I intend on having a long talk with Patina."
"Why Patina?" Mera asked with confusion, I was a little confused myself, this was not the response I thought we would get.
"Perhaps I need to talk to another mare who might understand how I feel, but has dealt with grief better," Water Shadow replied in a near whisper. "I can't open up to just any pony, but perhaps she can understand me enough that maybe I can do better. I don't want to become a monster like Flame Star did, I don't want to cause that same type of sorrow in other ponies. I have a responsibility to find ways of coping, and I can't just keep sailing through life trying to ignore how I feel."
"So you aren't mad at us for thinking of trying to hook you up with some pony?" Mera said hopefully.
"It was not an idea that was buoyant right now," Water Shadow said sadly. "I appreciate you thinking it, and I admit that your friend left an impression on me. But, I don't think that is going to be something I can pursue, not any time soon. If Patina can help me, maybe sometime in the future. A part of me wants to have the joys of family again, which is why I am going to talk to the one pony who has the most experience. At the very least, I don't want to go mad.
"I also wanted to tell you something. I only suspect this, I am not sure. But something doesn't feel right about you, not you two specifically, but the circumstances surrounding you. It stinks of Greater meddling. Too much had to line up right for you two to come together with the abilities you have. I believe in chance and destiny to some extent, but this fish smells rotten. Some Greater is playing a game. They always play their games, but this isn't the same. I am going to look into it more when I am in Harmony. I know you have been told before, but be wary of the Greaters, their is at least one of them that is willing to go and destroy your village if I am right, and that is not normal. They don't normally hurt ponies like that, at least not more than single targeted individuals."
"You think that the Greaters were responsible for what happened at Starlight's Folly?" I asked in disbelief and anger.
"I think one Greater might be responsible," she corrected. "I can't imagine all of them being involved in something like that, I can't even confirm it really isn't just blind chance. But it seems too much to me, and a Greater is the only pony that could pull it off."
"Why, do you think it is too much to be chance?" Mera asked, looking worriedly at both me and Water Shadow. We were both very distressed. She was implying that our entire relationship had been arranged.
"It needed both of you to have your unique abilities, it needed both of you living at the same time, it needed both of you to end up at the same place, and it needed both of you to come together in that place, and then you needed to bond," Water Shadow said. "It could be random chance, but there are a lot of things that had to come together that were low chance of occurring. After more than two occur it starts to look suspicious."
"So our lives were arranged?" I asked quietly.
"If what I suspect is true, then yes," Water Shadow said sympathetically. "Your love for one another might be legitimate, but you were pushed into a position it could happen."
"For what possible reason?" Mera demanded, now getting angry that she might have been manipulated, and ponies possibly died in the manipulation process.
"I have no clue," Water Shadow admitted. "I can't imagine what the endgame of this could be. The final intention could be a long way off, Greaters can plot things over centuries. Just be on your guard, whatever the plan happens to end up being, and whoever is responsible, they are doing something big if they are willing to wipe out a town to accomplish it."
We all sat silently for a moment. I was trying to determine how to feel. She admitted that this could just all be freak chance, and I wanted to believe that, but she was also right. A lot has to happen just right. So, what did that mean for me and Mera?
My wife had been sitting and considering the same things. She got up and gave me a big hug after the long silence.
"You are still the pony I love," she said to me in a faint whisper. "Whether I met you by design or by chance, you are still the center of my life. I will never turn away from you. If some Greater has some plan then we will find some way to stop it, whatever it is."
That settled my thoughts for me. No matter what we were in this together, and it didn't change the fact I loved her, no matter what. The fact it might have been arranged didn't change that. What had changed is we could be more on guard for further manipulation, and try to find out who and why. We had twenty possible suspects.
"I am sorry to cause you distress," Water Shadow said with head held low. "Hopefully I am wrong, that is still a possibility. I really do hope I am. Perhaps it is only an early sign of madness that I even suspect such a thing. But if I am right I felt I had the responsibility to tell you. I will leave you two be now. Think happier thoughts if you can, whatever this is, it does not impact today."