//------------------------------// // Chapter 127 - The Redemption Ark // Story: Dadonequus Discord (Book 2) // by CrazedLaughter //------------------------------// When you all reappeared, you could already feel the wind in your mane. It was a rather swift wind too, really fast, like a storm. The sea was under you, coming closer with every second that passed by despite its calming presence. And in the air, the screams of fillies filled all… Wait, why all the screaming? When you finally take notice, you could see that all four of you were falling downwards. Seems you were somewhat off with your aim. “ANON! HELP! DO SOMETHING!” Sweetie Belle screams out towards you. “AHHHH! SOMEPONY SAVE US!” Applebloom yelled as she waved her legs in a panic. Scootaloo was twirling downward as she flapped her wings as hard as she could. She wished she could fly, she wished she could do something to help everyone. Shit! Ok, ok, don’t panic! All you need to do is catch everyone in some sort of flying device! You slap on your horn and try to concentrate.  Just concentrate! All you need is one thing to save everyone, just one thing!  In an instant, some sort of flying vehicle appears. It is a half sphere, open on the top, with a green propeller on the bottom keeping it airborne. The rim along the top is also green while the vehicle itself is pure white. On its ‘face’ was a ponish looking clown face, smiling forward. In essence, you created your own koopa clown car. Not bad. If it was a plane or jet then it either would have crashed anyway, or worse, blown up.  And besides, despite its size, it was actually pretty roomy. One by one, you all fell in, and then each of you popped your head out to look around at the clear blue skies and sea below.  “Woah! That was close. What even happened? Why are we over water?” Sweetie Belle said as she took a breath and looked downwards. “Dunno, A’hm just glad we ain’t falling anymore. Anon, what happened?” Applebloom asked as she leaned back, relieved she was alive. “Ugh, I just missed my target, that’s all. I wasn’t exactly sure where Tempest was, and I didn’t think about the fact that she was probably on her airship.” You said as you peeked your head out, taking in the sea air before taking a calm breath. “Good thing my horn has unlimited charges today, eh? Woo, that was too close.” “I’ll say. But what is this thing anyway? And why does it have a creepy face?” Scootaloo said as she leaned over the front side some to look down on the clown car. “Why didn’t you just summon an airship we could use?” Ugh, even in a near death scenario, someone has to criticize your choices on conjured objects. “It was all I could think of for us all to safely land on. Give me a break, anything else and we might still be falling or it would have crashed. This thing is easy to control and extremely stable.” “Ok… But that doesn’t explain the creepy clown face.” Scootaloo said, getting more weirded out as she stared at it. She moved her head back as she peeked at it, nervous, she could swear it was blinking. You roll your eyes and lean back, irritated with her question. “Because, y’know, that’s how it is. Again, chaos, just had a lesson on it. Can we just focus on finding Tempest, please?” No taste, absolutely no taste. Sure it was kind of weird, but it was fast and still cool. Maybe? Bah, you could make it work just as good as any giant turtle dragon. “Hey!” Applebloom says to catch everyone’s attention. “Check this out. There’s a bunch of lil’ Anons in here. They’re kind of cute.” Applebloom said as she held up one of the little clockwork toys of you. “Look, you can even wind em up!” “That’s weird.” Sweetie Belle said as she picked one up. “There’s a ton of these in here. Why? Anon, are you trying to merchandise yourself or something?” “Nah, I don’t think Anon would do that.” Scootaloo said as her attention was also taken by the multitudes of clockwork yous. “Chaos is a ‘in the moment’ type of thing, isn’t it? Besides, holding one of these, I just get this feeling you’re just supposed to throw them at other ponies. I dunno, it just feels right. Hm, does anypony suddenly not like plumbers all of a sudden?” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle just looked to Scootaloo and shrugged. “Guess it’s just me. Weird… Oh, hey! What’s that over there?” Scootaloo said as she pointed towards the side of the clown car, noticing an oddly extravagant but not luxurious airship. At first you’d say it looked like a pirate ship, but it actually looked better produced and designed. Aside from the sails and large red balloon above carrying it, it looked like some military ship from way way back in the day. The sides of it were painted green, with golden letters spelling out “Redemption Ark”.  Being high above, you could see the deck still looked rather traditional, with set cannons on either side. Weird, while not as big as Tempest’s old ship, it was still pretty big for what must be just her and Grubber. Hm, was that even their ship? It had to be, or else you wouldn’t be so far out at sea. She must have traded her old ship for this one, that is the only way to make sense out of it. “It’s a ship! Anon, is that where Tempest is?” “Its gotta be, considering my teleport should have brought us at least somewhere nearby. Alright girls, hold on, I’m gonna teleport us right onto the deck.” You say as you prepare your horn. “Wait!” They all call out to you. You wince, then look back at them. “What’s wrong?” “Ah mean, just, erm, we ain’t gonna end up fallin’ again, are we?” Applebloom asked, certainly not ready for another scare like that. “What? No. I can see the ship, so teleporting to it will be easy.” You say to reassure her. “Wait! Before we go, I have one more question.” Sweetie Belle shouts out, trying to get your attention. “What is it?” You ask her. What could she possibly want to ask now? “It’s about these toys that look like you. I remember the lesson, and considering what Scootaloo said, does that mean you just have a really high opinion of yourself?” Sweetie asked as she moved one of the little mechanized dolls of you along her hooves. “Is there a problem with having a high opinion of myself? I’d like to think I’m pretty…” You stop yourself. Goddammit, she better not say those damn words. “Sweetie! Geez! Get off it, alright?! Do you still have a problem with me?! Didn’t you just apologize for calling me high and mighty?!” Sweetie flinched, dropping the toy. Then her ears drooped and folded back as she frowned towards you. “I-I wasn’t going to say that. I just wanted to say that I think it’s pretty neat. I-I said I was sorry, and that’s because I really am. And that’s why I’m really amazed by these things. You’re really strong, like, here.” Sweetie Belle says as she brings her hoof to her chest. “It seems like no matter what, no matter what anypony says, you always have all this self confidence. It isn’t being high and mighty, it’s having a strong heart.” Wut? Wait, is that a good compliment? Holy shit, it was. “O-oh, well, y’know. I gotta stay confident a lot of the time. I got a lot on my plate, so I can’t just give up and let everypony down.” “And that’s what I’ve been saying about Anon. Sure, sometimes he can seem mean or thoughtless, but he has a big heart. He always does his best to help his friends, even if they’re evil friends! Erm, I mean, hopefully not 'evil forever' kind of friends.” Scootaloo said, becoming a little sheepish as she mentions that last part. “That’s true. And we all have our good and bad times. The important thing is to stick together through thick and thin. Ain’t that right, Anon?” Applebloom says with a cheer. Oh god, they are so damn childish. It is both endearing and embarrassing at this point. Ugh, this may have been a bad idea after all. Nothing against them, but this over cheeriness and high energy isn’t something you really need on this visit, considering how Tempest herself is. And yet you can’t just tell them to chill out either, would ruin their positive moods they got on right now. Although, it wasn’t like their positivity wasn’t wanted either. It did feel pretty good to be cheered for, to be liked more. Hm, you know? This wasn’t bad, it’s never bad, why do you even question it? Then again, maybe it is just the back and forth of how these three perceive you that doesn’t make it feel as good as it should. For everyone else, you enjoy their affection and love. Hell, among the three, Scootaloo is pretty damned great, amazing at times. But the other two? Bah, eh, forget it, Anon. Things won’t truly change, yeah, but these are also good hearted girls. Just stop thinking about it and accept the fact they like you right now. “Right, that is right. We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders after all.” “Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusaders forever!” The other three cheer as they grab onto each other, and you, for a huge hug. Nothing crushing this time, just… Warming. “Yeah, forever! Alright girls! Let’s go say hi to my friend Tempest!” You say as you use your horn to teleport to the airship.  When you all appear, you found yourselves at the helm of the ship. All of you could hear a quiet humming coming near the steering wheel. When you all looked towards it, you could see the back of a bipedal cat in a red coat, hands on the steering wheel, his foot tapping to his own tune. He also had on what seemed to be a traditional captain’s hat. Capper? Was that him? You didn’t know if it was him, but how many bipedal cats did you know? Why was he on this ship? Did you make a mistake somehow? “Anon, who is that?” Scootaloo whispered to you as the other girls took a step behind you, not knowing what to make of the scene. “I think I know him. Give me a second.” You say as you begin to step forward. You call out to the cat captain as you move right behind him. “Capper? Hey, Capper! Is thatAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” And suddenly, the cat quickly turns around and stabs a fork into your forehead, causing you to fall over and wave your legs about screaming. “AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The girls screamed as they grabbed each other in fear. “AHHH!” Said the cat as he jumped back, realizing what he had done. “Anon?! Anon! Woah! How did you?! Oh man, sorry, thought you were Grubber. How did you-Gah!” It was indeed Capper, who, as he tried to lean down to grab the fork, had to take a step back due to your constant flailing. “Hey, c’mon now, it isn’t that bad. I can still see the edges of that fork. Let’s see…” Capper leans down and waits a moment for you to lean to the other side.  “YOU STABBED ME! HOLY CRAP! YOU FREAKIN' STABBED ME! I’M BLEEDING! MY BRAIN! I’M GONNA-Wha?! Huh?” You were just continuing to flop and flail like a fish. But the moment you were in a position for Capper to properly grab you, he did, held you in place, and pulled the fork out of your head. “Actually, that’s just raspberry filling.” Capper said as he brought the fork to his lips, took a lick, cringed, and placed the fork near a small plate with cake on it by the steering wheel. “You gotta relax, Anon, gotta keep your cool. Don’t complain either, you were the one sneaking up on me. Shouldn’t do that, you never know what will happen if you’re caught.” “Sheesh…” You say as you tap at your forehead. No blood, no holes, barely must have gone in. Your skull really was impenetrable. You couldn’t help but continue to tap on it though, still kinda stung. “Sure, ok, I get it. But why a fork?! Why attack me at all?!” “All I had on me, Anon. Had to make due. As for your second question, well, what do you think? I’m a cat, always on alert. But if you want the truth, Grubber had this whole thing saying that my reflexes were nothing like Tempest’s, says her's is like a cat. Now, it doesn’t bother me whether it is or not. But I am a cat, we invented the word ‘reflexes’. So basically I challenged him to sneak up on me whenever. But as long as I manage to catch him, I get all the free cake and cat nip I want. He’s a pretty good baker, so I couldn’t pass up the chance.” Capper says with a shrug, his smile ever so slick. And that’s when he noticed them, three fillies who were just staring at the two of you. He took his hat, extended it sideways, and took a polite bow. “But where are my manners? Welcome aboard the crazy cool ship, the Redemption Ark. Named it myself, haha.” "Wow!" The three fillies said as they nearly trampled over you to meet Capper. G-geez! So much for all that respect. Dammit, already getting shown up by a freaking cat.