//------------------------------// // A Princess Intermission // Story: To Calm a Tempest // by Broman //------------------------------// I stirred in the dream world and felt like I was in a river. My mind felt numb, my body drifting in the lazy current as I continued to stare up into the sky. The water was soothing my brain and it flowed naturally around my body, and it made me feel at ease. However, all subtle things must come to a end and all too soon I began to hearing voices that was causing me to stir in my peaceful drift. “You’re pathetic!” one voice called out, making me flinch from the response. “You are so despicable!” A feminine voice shouted, filled with venom. I felt something shear across my face and I winced from the pain. “You are just like all the men! This is what you should all get!” another woman's voice came screeching at me. Then, something was splashed onto my head, the faint scent was repugnant to my nose. I coughed and gagged, being pelted by unknown projectiles that felt all too familiar. The waters around me started to become more violent, thrashing me about in a rapid current that threatened to sink me down and drown me in the white waters. “Look at him! He grovels! He’s such a loser!” another woman's voice spoke out, this one more annoying then the others. They were all laughing. A chorus of women were who they were, and they were laughing and belittling me. I didn’t do anything wrong to them, yet they treat me like garbage, human refuse. I dared open an eye and I saw a pair of red glowing eyes, the same ones that I was all too acquainted with. It hovered over my body, piercing my very soul. The feminine form scorning and laughing at me. I shuddered and the waters around me turned to ice, making my blood cold and and my breath come to a gasping shudder. I wanted to tear my eyes off her and escape. Yet, I was held there, prisoner to this beast. I did not do anything to them. The black feminine form sneered, its lips cracking at the edge of its mouth like the cheshire cat. It's hands, whispering pales of darkness, enveloped over my head, pushing me into the ice and forcing me to drink the water, which blackened by its presence. I frantically struggled, my body flailing to the point that my skin could peel off from the ice. While I continued to drink the poisoned waters unwillingly, I could still hear their laughter all around me. I could not plead for them to stop. I could not have this be halted. I couldn’t do anything while they put me down. Why did she betray me? My thoughts were of that women and my thoughts turned to anger and bitterness. I wanted to break away and fight back, to make them suffer as I have. But the more I struggled against them, the more they pushed back. It was almost as if they were enjoying my suffering. My vision began to fade, my breath becoming short, and soon I felt my life was going to pass from me. “That’s enough of this.” a soothing voice broke through the laughter of those sirens, ceasing their mirth and hissing at a light that came into my view. I blinked once, my breath once again found air and the weight of the darkness pressing on my chest was lifted. A familiar humming emanated nearby and the river around me began to disperse.I began to float out of the miasma and drift towards a warm embrace. “There, there… You’re safe now, Spencer.” I opened my eyes and I shuddered slightly, seeing Princess Luna watching over me. My breath came out in quick succession and my body shivered though I felt no cold. I felt Luna’s warmth welcoming and my head was resting on her lap facing her abdomen. I curled myself inward, feeling she was the only source of heat. “Luna,” I almost shouted in joy and sadness, my arms curling around her waist and pulling myself closer to her. I held onto her as if she was the only island in the sea of darkness. My body continued to quake while she tended to me, her fingers tracing tiny ministrations on my back and my scalp and her wings wrapping around me to give me a winghug. “Shh… It’s okay… You're safe, Spencer. The corruption can’t get you.” She replied, whispering soothing words as I continued to shudder in her embrace. I felt so small, like a child beside its mother. “Luna… I—” I went to say, but I heard a loud thump nearby. Casting my gaze slightly I saw that both of us were in a blue shield, and all around us was utter blackness. The only thing visible was a wraith-like form hovering over the sphere, its red eyes glaring daggers at me. “It won’t get in. This creature is to weak to break through my defenses,” she claimed. I eased somewhat, yet still kept my gaze onto the creature that surrounded us. “How did you find me? I thought you could only work at night?” I asked, yet she only giggled in reply. “Even a Princess needs naps now and then. I tend to sleep during the early hours of the day as my sister sleeps during the night. Yet, despite that, I can still sense those around me who are off in the dream scape. I saw your distress and immediately found you. Surprisingly, it was much easier to reach you this time than the previous nights,” she explained. I wonder how that could be possible? Wouldn’t the Storm King's magic be difficult to penetrate? I thought she was having trouble? I wondered. While my mind wandered I felt Luna trace her fingers over my left shoulder, the same spot where the manticore had struck me with its stinger. I noticed a hitch in her breath while she gently brushed over my back. “You’ve been poisoned and your body is badly damaged,” she pressed a thumb onto shoulder and traced over the wound but I hardly even felt it, “What did the Storm King do to you?” I shook my head to her, my face brushing against her abdomen, which felt more comforting the longer I was there. “Nothing. . . I was hit by a manticore stinger in the Everfree Forest. The beast would have killed me were it not for Tempest’s intervention,” I explained, looking up to meet her in the eye. “It wasn't them that did it, but I did have a nasty tumble down a hill. I don’t think it’s all bad, just got away with some minor bruises and some numbness in my left arm.” “Your left arm is broken Spencer, and your shoulder is dislocated,” she said impassively. “Okay nevermind, that explains my numbness,” I mumbled. I was wondering why I didn’t feel any pain at that point. The venom’s poisoning agent must have suppressed any feeling in my left arm. I hopoed that when I wake up, my arm woudn't be in serious pain. *Smack* The creature outside Princess Luna’s sphere crashed into her barrier, attempting to break in. It freaked me out as its face looked distorted and changed in ways that made my stomach curl. Luna sighed in annoyance and looked up to the creature, who hovered over the sphere, baring its serrated teeth as it was trying to break through her shield. “Persistent aren’t you?” she said, lifting a hand off my back and facing her right palm towards it, as well as pulling her wings back to herself. A surge of light enveloped the sphere and I was able to witness the light form underneath the shadow creature. Within seconds, the creature was only able to cast a glance before the powerful beam shot out, rippling across its body from the impact. The creature disappeared into the air, and the darkness around us began to become clear once again. I sighed in relief when the land around us became more lush with life of an open field, the darkness finally dissipating from sight. “Strange,” Princess Luna muttered. I looked up to her and saw that her body remained looking ahead, her complexion turning a little pale from what I could see, “Why did that creature feel so familiar?” “Luna, is something wrong?” I asked, unsure of why she seemed more concerned. Before I could get her reply I started to feel something strange on my left shoulder. A burning sensation was draining my body and I inwardly groaned from the pain. My discomfort drew Luna’s attention for she immediately snapped out of her stupor and began examining my back. “I sense your captors are injecting you with a cure to combat the poison. It is a crude medicine they have administered to you, but it will likely help ease you,” she explained. I had to agree with her. If I was awake I would no doubt pass out from just seeing the needle. It’s one thing I hate the most when I visit the doctor's office. I felt at ease a little when I felt Luna’s hand caress my head, wiping away some sweat that trickled down my face. “Listen Spencer, I must go and tell my sister about not only your condition, but of the creature I had to driven off,” she explained. I worried that she hadn't completely destroyed it. Before I could reply she placed a finger onto my lips to quiet me, “Shhh…. be at ease. I will return in due time. Just be strong Spencer. I must be certain of my assumptions before I can tell you what is afflicting both you and Tempest. I will see you when I am able,” she said. I felt the light begin to change around us and the dream-like realm had slowly shifted away. A loud pop came out of my left shoulder and I inwardly groaned from the pain. My eyes opened up and all I could see was a blur and seeing stars in my sight. It looked like it was night. Light rain pattered against my face and cheeks. I was breathing heavily and out of my vision, I saw that I was sitting upright. I could see a pair of feet in front of me. I felt lightheaded and I couldn’t feel most parts of my body. Limbo struck me hard with the side of numbness on the side for being still for so long. “That should do the trick. His arm is back in its socket, but can’t say much about the rest of him.” I heard a familiar feminine voice nearby. I felt weighted and I couldn't see who’s voice it was or where it belonged to. A hand pressed against my head, the only part of my body that I could feel at the moment, and I was gently lowered back down onto the ground. Despite my blurry sight I could see Tempest was over me, her hands around my head and holding me up. I felt her fingers on either side of my head, cradling me up from all the aches and pains that I had. The moment she was holding me like this, I found it to be really nice. “Tempest… You okay?” I muttered, but the words that came out did not sound that at all. Instead what I felt like I had was a slab of meat in my mouth that wouldn’t move on its own. Tempest took notice of this and she looked up to someone nearby. “It appears the cure for the manticore’s poison is working, but I'm not sure if your cure also had a side effect of making his tongue go numb, ” Numb Tongue?! That’s just great! I thought, groaning in disbelief over not only how I cannot fell half the left side of my body, but that my only way of communication was now incapable of any speech. Hitting my funny bone and couldn’t feel it for minutes is child's play compared to what I was experiencing. “Don’t worry. It may be a slight side effect, but he will be better in no time,” a new voice came in, one that sounde quite sassy in her remark. I managed to see past Tempest and spotted a long red feather coming into view above her. Said feather began to move in my peripheral vision and sprouted from a large hat. When the hat came behindTempest and in my sight, I saw that it was none other then a bird. A big, womanly, curvious, parrot-like, pirate bird. I couldn’t make this up if I was drunk and passed out with Pinkie Pie dancing in a flamingo outfit. Actually, I think she would dress up like that. The pirate parrot lady, or lady parrot, or whatever she could be called, was a tall woman with green feathers as hair, and a tail that flowed naturally as she moved. She wore a yellow vest or armor of some sort, which had a strange viking valkyrie vibe going on with the way it made her body shaped and curved out her chest, along with a green sash around the waist. Her feathers were gray, and on her right leg was a crystal peg leg. She had a red raspberry eyes with green eyeliner, a small beauty mark on her left cheek, and an earring on her left ear. All in all, she definitely had the fancy look of a pirate. The kind like Anne Bonny or Mary Read during the early 18th Century and the late pirate era. Piracy was still alive and well in Equestria it seemed. “Well, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. He will be out of it for some time, if not for several weeks. But lucky enough for you, we have some special antivenom in our stores that will help him.” She said, casting a glance to Tempest, who in turn looked to the pirate, “I’d give him ten days at best,” she said. I groaned inwardly. Ten whole days of having this poison still running amok in my body was probably the second worst thing of happening to me while being here. The first being getting captured in the stupidest way possible. Actually, I take that back, getting drunk and taking a piss on a Storm Guard was the stupidest thing possible. Or… maybe accidentally landing my hands on Tempest breasts. Yeah, probably that. “Oh little monkey,” the pirate parrot noticed my discomforted moan and one of her talons booped my nose and chuckled. “Have a little faith. Ole Captain Celaeno and her trusted crew will bring you back to full health in no time.” She smiled at me and gave a friendly chuckle. “My crew can attend to him if you wish,” she directed towards Tempest The commander nodded in kind. Captain Celaeno, as she called herself, gestured to two other bird-like crew members nearby and they went to either side of me and lifted me up with ease and out of Tempest’s grasp. My eyes rested on the two crew members. I couldn’t help but blush at the two bird parrot women that I was staring at. On my right was a red eyed, green feathered pirate with brown feathers and wearing an eye patch on her right eye, with a black armband on her right elbow and a pair of black leather gauntlets. She wore a belt buckle around her waist and a dark blue leather shirt with several strings going across her chest. On my left was a green eyed red headed pirate with light yellow feathers across her body. She wore a orange leather shirt, bearing a small earing on her right ear, along with a red sash that strapped around her waist. She also bore a small scar going around the middle of her sternum and up to her right collarbone. These two looked like they have seen their fair share of adventures but they took their captain’s orders and did not seemed bothered about caring for me. They might have dealt with a manticore before but it was a guess at this point. Yet, despite the way they looked, they held me with care and both gave me kind smiles. In fact… I didn’t mind my recovery being nurtured by these two fine and, if I may be so kind, beautifully endowed girls. Unless it's a bunch of feathers underneath. Then I’ll be greatly disappointed. I think. I hope not. My head was clasped once again by Tempest, her fingernails pressing gently into the back of my neck. My eyes shifted to her as the three carried me away. “Don’t worry, Spencer. Just hold on. Everything will be alright” she said, her voice smooth as silk. It was the only thing I could focus on. I gave a weak smile, the effects of the anti-venom taking its toll on me and sending me off to dreamland. Oh lord… if this is a dream… surrounded and being cared for by beautiful women...please do not let it end. It was my last thought before Tempest faded and I was once again in peaceful slumber.