//------------------------------// // Chapter 32 // Story: My Little Destroyermen: Walker on Water // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// Twilight, flanked by Silva and several Lemurians, looked up at the barnacle-encrusted hull of a once-proud ship in the Equestrian navy. Its bowsprit jutted out like a pitchfork in a haystack, scraps of sails dangling from it, and its copper-sheathed bottom had begun to rust. The large hole in the forward hold was jagged and splintered with a couple of large teeth still stuck in various places around it. “A gri-kakka tooth,” one of the Lemurians observed. “Thought ship was food.” “You mean one of those big pleezy-sores?” Silva asked. “He does,” Twilight breathed. She braced her hand against the hull and closed her eyes. The ship felt dead, as if the environmental magic that had saturated her for years was gone. She reached up to the bottom of the hole about a foot above her head, found a grip, and heaved herself up. After a few struggling grunts and a boost from Silva, she made it over the planks and tumbled to the sodden, silty deck with a thud. Seconds later, another thump resonated through the floor. “Quite a few dead fish in here,” she mumbled before grabbing the sledgehammer that followed her into the ship. Normally, she wouldn’t even consider destroying somepony else’s property, but she was in an alternate world and she needed help. She hefted the sledgehammer and smacked it into the hull, magically strengthening her swing. The specific plank she’d hit flew out of sight and impacted the beach. A couple surprised yelps told her that it wasn’t expected. She took out a second and third plank, then watched as Silva pulled the hull apart to make an easy-access point. His heavily muscled arms rippled with each movement, mesmerizing her for a split second. “Where to, Purple?” he asked. “This is the lower hold. We wanted to move quickly, so any cargo will be in the upper hold, near where you found me. Come on, the ladder’s this waaAAAYYYY!” She slipped on an exposed ballast stone and shielded herself from the deck, but the impact never came. Instead, a rather harsh yank snapped her head back and she cried out. A much gentler pull brought her back to her feet. “Sorry, ma’am,” Silva said in a very apologetic tone--a new side for him. “No, I’m good,” she replied. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and threaded her fingers through it, wincing slightly from the ebbing pain on the back of her head. “Getting my hair pulled is better than falling on the rocks.” “I’ll lead.” Silva kept his balance all the way to the ladder. The Lemurians that followed him were similarly successful. Twilight brought up the rear, taking care to not fall this time. The other decks stank of dying and dead fish and salty wood rot. It was still, however, more bearable if not pleasant than either of the former Grik ships had been--and still were, if the Lemurians had anything to say. While the crew wandered the length of the ship, Twilight entered the officers’ country. “If this is supposed’ ta be the gun deck, where’re all the guns?” Silva hollored, making her look up from a particularly salvageable book from Friendship’s captain, Captain Galaxy’s, quarters. “We don’t have any!” she yelled back. “Never even occurred to us.” “Well, I guess that makes sense, with your magic and all.” Twilight looked back at the book. Despite its obvious seawater corrosion and general decomposition, she could still somewhat read what it was saying. A restoration spell helped, though it didn’t completely repair it. “Legend has it that on the longest…day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape,” she finished, knowing the old story by heart. She flipped to the cover and smiled. It was a copy of Myths and Legends: An Elder’s Tale, Edition II, Volume III by the famed author and historian Black Inkwell, with a forward by Princess Celestia herself. She remembered using the third volume of the first edition for a history class project while she was at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Its companion novel (also by Inkwell), Predictions and Prophecies, also contained the legend of Nightmare Moon, albeit in more detail. Of which there was also a copy in Captain Galaxy’s library. She’d recognize its distinctive leather-bound cover anywhere. She spent several hours restoring what she could and filtering through the rest. Most of the maps were gone, but the one mapping Manehattan’s harbor survived. A couple letters of correspondence between Celestia and Luna were salvaged, as well as several more books, which were a surprisingly even mix of standard naval stuff and Blackwell’s compilations. A Lemurian knocked on the wall behind her. “Prin-cess, we have found two of the magic and brought them to the beach.” “Oh. Thank you. Could you get something to carry these in?” she asked, gesturing at the recovered books and papers. “They’re important.” “Of course, ma’am.” He scurried down to the camp that the rest of Phoenix’s crew had set begun setting up in the last few hours, returning quickly with a large sack. Under her watchful gaze, her carefully set the books and gingerly carried it down. Twilight sighed and pushed through another door. It creaked open to reveal her quarters during the voyage. She hadn’t brought much: just a waterproof bag her friends gave her as an early Hearth’s Warming present. Remembering one of the things she did bring, she found a small box with a food preservation spell cast on it. She opened it and was greeted by the delicious smell of Granny Smith’s apple pie. It took a mountain of willpower to resist eating it right then and there. Next to the pie, there were a couple honeycrisp apples and a container of cider. A tear escaped her eye as she closed the food box and rummaged through the rest of the bag. A new jeweled necklace from Rarity, the latest Daring Do book from Rainbow Dash, a bag of animal feed from Fluttershy, and another food box (this time with sweets) from Pinkie Pie. Finally, a star that resembled her cutie mark carved in oak wood was a combined present from all of her Ponyville friends. She haltingly gasped and the tears flowed freely when she picked up the star. It wasn’t just any oak tree: it was still a little charred on the back, where a picture of all of them together in front of the Golden Oaks Library on Nightmare Night hung from a loose staple. She carefully removed the staple. So many memories were etched into the fibers of the wooden star, memories she could never relive again. What she had left behind finally hit her, and all of her emotions partially relieved by talking to Celestia (but never quite gone) boiled over. Some time later, she was able to place the star and picture back in the bag and close it. She picked it up, scanned the room to make sure she didn’t miss anything, and made her way back to the beach. It was time to go back to work.