//------------------------------//
// Quarantine 
// Story: Tugs of Seaquestria 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

I remember the Great Heatwave with all too much clarity. Everything was uncomfortably hot, and even the fan in my office was struggling to keep me cool. But that wasn't the only thing to remember about that year, and I honestly wish it was. The dreaded Crystal Virus was ravaging most of Equestria, a nasty disease that turned the victims' internal organs to crystal before they froze from the inside out. As Hippogriffia sits on a peninsula attached to the mainland by a causeway, the second the virus was reported that was sealed off, and furthermore the city was declared in lockdown from the rest of the world. Incoming ships had to anchor off the coast and display the yellow danger flags to denote that the ships needed to be medically examined. If the vessels passed the check, they were permitted to enter the harbour by the Port Authority. If any traces if illness were detected, the vessels were quarantined for 40 days. After 40 days, the vessel was boarded again and checked. If it was now clear, it could enter the port. Otherwise, another 40 days, and so on and so forth until the virus was gone. Any ships that attached to them or attempted to tow them in also had to quarantine for 40 days for safety reasons. The measures may seem draconian, but people from this part of the world are especially susceptible to the virus (doctors have no idea why) and as a result we were very keen to keep it out.

One morning, I had been working through the night. It was only 6 or so in the morning, but the sun was already up and it was getting very hot. Hippogriffia had dry heat unlike Hayseed Swamp, which was extremely muggy, but the intensity of the heat was making tempers run short- including my own.

"I say!" Blueblood exclaimed. "If this heatwave goes on any longer my paint will start to peel off."

"This is the longest heatwave I've ever seen, in my many years of working the harbour," Mistmane sighed. She had been making odd noises for the whole week, her engine spluttering and catching as she moved along.

"You sound pretty elderly the way your engine is performing," Blueblood said. Although it sounded sarcastic, I knew he was only speaking out of genuine concern for his friend.

And he had every reason to be concerned. Two vessels had begun prowling the harbour. Both were painted yellow with red and white lining, and the only way you could tell them apart was by the fact one had a moustache. They were Flim and Flam, notorious scrap dealers who had many dodgy claims against them, but there was never enough evidence of wrongdoing to convict them of anything. They had already made me an offer for Mistmane (I told them 'no'), and there were rumours of them making off with vessels anyways to tow them to the breakers yard. Combine the heat, my lack of sleep the previous night and my fear that one of my tugs was going to stolen by a pair of psycopathic tugboats and you can probably understand I was on an extremely short fuse that morning.

I looked out of my window to see Skystar and Silverstream rolling in, about half an hour late. I went onto the balcony. "Briefing was at six thirty," I reminded them, looking stern.

"Apologies, Captain Novo!" said Skystar. "We were at the docks and loading had gone slow. You can check with Brae-"

"Enough of your excuses!" I snapped. "Are you aware that Flim and Flam are prowling about again?"

"The scrap dealers?" Silverstream asked, a note of shock in her voice. "The ones who tow away vessels at random for scrapping?"

"Allegedly," Skystar reminded them.

"Well, get here on time in future, or else you may end up in their scrapyard!" I snapped. "Be here on time in future!"

Both tugs looked visibly shaken. "Y- yes ma'am," they stammered.

"Skystar, get over to the firefighting yard. Mistmane's out there collecting your barge. If she's OK, join the rest of the fleet as we've got a bumper haul of boats to tow in."

"Y- yes ma'am," Skystar stammered. In hindsight, I had scared them quite badly with my words, but at the time I was too angry to care.

"Silverstream, you are to tow in Cranky Doodle. He's an old tramper and quite prone to sudden movement, so be careful out there. And read the danger flags!"

"Aye ma'am," Silverstream replied, her voice downtrodden. She didn't even crack a joke like she usually did, and both tugs steamed off. "She wouldn't have us scrapped, would she?"

"I've seen her like this before," Skystar replied. "Everybody has a bad day, so forget about it! She'll be fine by this evening, I'm sure of it."

I went back indoors as they steamed off, and consulted my charts and data, adding four more vessels to the towing list. "I had no idea this job could get so stressful," I sighed, sitting down at my desk and taking my jacket off. "I wish this heat would go away, though. The fields could do with some rain."





Mistmane was the oldest operational tugboat in Hippogriffia port, and the only paddlesteamer I was aware of in working order. She had served faithfully for many years, but her age was catching up to her and her parts were starting to wear out. Her engine coughed and spluttered as she steamed along, black smoke pouring from her chimney. Flim and Flam were watching her with interest, as they sensed an easy scrap deal.

Nearby, a cream coloured ferryboat with turquoise lining set off into the harbour. This was Terramar the ferry, and his job was to ferry goods and passengers across the harbour on a regular timetable. This was very important work, and went on even if there was a heatwave. But this run was the run where it all went wrong.

Mistmane and Terramar had met courses at the ferry dock, and both were moving off. "What's that in the distance?" asked Terramar.

Mistmane looked over. "That's some sort of motor boat," she replied, seeing a small white thing blaze towards her. "It shouldn't be a problem."

Suddenly, the boat veered towards her. Reversing the direction of her paddle wheels, she turned just in time and avoided the speeding boat. "Idiot! You're breaking the speed limit!"

She intended to stop her paddle wheels and resume her normal course, but for some reason her engine didn't respond. She continued to spin. "Hold off, Terramar! I've lost cont-"

It was too late. Her barge slammed into the side of Terramar, cutting a hole at least a foot long in his hull, which soon began to fill with water.

"Help! I'm sinking!"

Mistmane continued to spin helplessly, just as Skystar arrived. "Are you OK, Mistmane?" asked the younger tug.

"Never mind me! Help Terramar! He'll sink if you don't do something!"

But it was too late. With a cry of fear, the ferry slipped below the waves. Luckily, the passengers had bailed and were bobbing about in life jackets, but the cargo onboard had gone straight to the bottom of the harbour.

Silverstream steamed in. "What in the world happened?" she asked.

"Don't sit there! Get help!" Skystar said. The other tug steamed away as fast as she could to get the emergency services.





Meanwhile, at our base, Flim and Flam had turned up and were making me yet another offer for Mistmane. "Good morning, Mrs Novo," said Flim.

"What?" I asked, not wanting this on top of everything else.

"You see that Mistmane? Her engine is failing and it won't be long until she completely gives up the ghost."

"Agreed, Flam," said the one I presumed to be Flim. "We can't afford to sit around in our business and watch people break old boats up, especially when the scrap metal price is so high."

"Indeed, we have a list, and Mistmane is at the top of it."

I blinked at them. "Mistmane. Is. Not. For. Sale," I growled. "Now go away. I'm very busy."





Meanwhile, Spitfire the firefighting tug had arrived at the scene of the accident, which was right in the mouth of the harbour. Although there is no good place for a ship to sink, Terramar had sunk in the worst possible location, obstructing the entrance into and out of the port. "What happened?" Spitfire asked.

"Terramar hit a barge and sank!" Skystar replied.

"Right," Spitfire noted. "Leave this to us. Full report later, but for now let's focus on getting Terramar up. Diamond Tiara, Cherry Jubilee, Diamond Tiara, are you all ready to lift?"

"Yes ma'am!" the crane chorused. "All connected and ready to lift."

"Good," Spitfire said.

Gallus surfaced. "Terramar is sitting on a level part of the seabed. You'd probably best lift him quickly; he's not designed to go underwater."

"Start lifting!" Spitfire called.

Cherry Jubilee was the first to fire up her engine. "Pull harder!" she called to the others. "Ah cain't lift him by mahself!"

All three cranes roared into life, as Tempest and Sonata turned up. Nothing ever seemed to happen without them turning up and being a nuisance. "What do we have here," Tempest snorted. "A sunken ferry, a broken paddle steamer? I see this is another example of the Seaquestria company's dedication to quality."

"I wonder how it all happened? If you ask me-"

"Nobody is asking you," Skystar said curtly.

"But," Sonata went on, "all those lovely cars at the bottom! The owners will be annoyed."

"At least nobody died," Mistmane said.

"But you're all busy," Tempest smiled. "Oh well, no use gloating. We've got other things to do." Secretly, she was happy. With those two out of the way, there would be no competition for the towing jobs out at sea. Such a desire would ultimately prove pointless, as no boats were being cleared to move into the harbour. Blueblood glanced over from the rally point as Skystar and Mistmane arrived.

"There was no need to hurry," he said. "There's no work for us at the moment."

"The ferry's back up, by the way," Skystar explained. "Terramar had a bit of a shock."

"The ferry is up? I never knew it was down," Blueblood replied.

"I had an accident," Mistmane said.

"Is your boiler leaking?" Sonata joked.

"No, and stop with the immature jokes," Mistmane replied. "Besides, that stupid speedboat caused the accident, not me."

Seconds later, another whistle signalled Sky Stinger's arrival. "Aha!" exclaimed Blueblood. "Is there any work for us?"

"Not here, I'm afraid," Sky Stinger sighed. "All of the boats anchored here are quarantined for 40 days. Confirmed cases of the Crystal Virus." He steamed off.

"Really? There's such little work around here," Tempest complained.

"Be glad the virus is on those boats and not on the shore," Skystar said. "I'd dread what'd happen if Captain Novo got it!"

"To think I pushed my engine that hard for no work," Mistmane sighed. "Oh well. You get what you're given."

"I'll remain here in case any work comes in," Tempest said. "Sonata, Aria needs help back in the port. Go and help her."

"On it!" Sonata replied, and blasted her horn before moving off.

"Something's off," Skystar noted. "Tempest is behaving very suspiciously, despite there being no boats to bring in."

"Well," Blueblood said, "Sky Beak told me that Silverstream is supposed to be bringing in Cranky Doodle today."

"Tempest would have no chance of knowing that!" Mistmane exclaimed. "Besides, it's assigned to us!"

"That's not stopped the Storm Fleet before," Skystar sighed. "I think we should take a look."

"I'll go with you," Mistmane added. "Blueblood, stay here and keep an eye on things. If any of those boats drop their flags, report it immediately."

"Understood!" Blueblood said, as he watched the two other tugs set off towards the open waters.





Silverstream pulled up alongside Cranky Doodle, a tramp steamer painted brown with black lining. She kept her distance, and the vessel was flying a pair of red flags, which indicated it hadn't been examined for sickness. As she floated at a distance, she suddenly saw the flags be lowered. "How can he be lowering his flags?" she asked, confused. "He hasn't been examine yet!"

"Can I have a tow?" Cranky Doodle asked.

"Sorry, I'm busy, bye!" the small tugboat said, and sped off before anybody could say another word.

As she headed away, she suddenly saw Tempest steaming her way. "There's nothing that way, Tempest!" she said, as she steamed past.

Tempest laughed. "If there was nothing, you wouldn't be coming back, would you?"

Silverstream sighed. "Fine. There's a tramper over there that still awaiting clearance." By this time, Mistmane and Skystar arrived, and listened in themselves. "What was odd was that the vessel dropped the red danger flags as I approached."

"It's been cleared!" Tempest cried. Her engine roared as she moved off.

"Get back here! That's ours!" Skystar shouted, and went to ahead full and chased after Tempest.

Mistmane looked on in shock. "No, no, no, NO! Skystar, slow down!" With a shudder and a roar, her own engine started up, and her paddle wheels spun round and round as she pursued the two tugs. "Slow down!"

Skystar slowed down as she heard Mistmane producing a mighty racket. "What's going o-"

There was a loud bang and a great release of steam as the coverplate of Mistmane's boiler went, clouds of black smoke venting from her engine.

The older tug, however, had plenty to say. "Silverstream said the flags were dropped, but she never said that Sky Stinger inspected the vessel. There's no proof the vessel is safe to move!"

Silverstream pulled up, and gasped in shock. "Mistmane! Your engine!" she exclaimed. "It's smoking!"

"Never mind me," Mistmane replied. "What matters is that you two are safe."

Nontheless, the two tugs pulled Mistmane back to the depot, where I emerged to see them looking very worried. "What happened?" I asked. "Mistmane, did your engine cut out?"

"Complete failure," Skystar said, her eyes filling with tears. "She put it on full power and nearly wrecked herself to save me from quarantine. Please Captain, don't scrap her!"

"Calm," Mistmane said. "I've had a good run, but my engine is only good for scrap now."

"Indeed," I said. "We all know what this means." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Flim and Flam approaching like sharks approaching their next meal. "She's not for sale, if you two are wondering."

Silverstream looked up, hope in her eyes. "Does this mean that-?"

"Yes," I said. "Mistmane will be getting a new engine and a complete overhaul. I'd always wondered why her paddle wheels were older than the rest of her."

"I can explain," Mistmane said. "When I was newly built, I wasn't a paddle steamer. But one of my fellow tugs, Sable Spirit, got into an accident and needed heavy repairs. I was almost identical, so I volunteered to give up my old engine and screw propellor to help her. In order to get me running, they fitted me with parts from an old paddle steamer. That is why I look so old."

"Skystar, tow Mistmane to the yard for repairs!" I said. "Silverstream, I need you on steel work. We'll need to make a fair bit of capital to get this paid for."





Meanwhile, out at sea, Tempest pulled up alongside Cranky and prepared to attach a tow line.

"Stop!" called Sky Stinger, as he raced across the bay. "This one should be under quarantine! Get those flags up now!"

Tempest then realised what this meant. "Brilliant," she said. "40 days in the middle of nowhere. Thanks a lot, Cranky."

Skystar would have been quarantined if not for Mistmane, and Mistmane would almost certainly have gone for scrap if it hadn't been for Skystar. I, of course, apologised to both them and Silverstream for my earlier words; although I was under a lot of pressure, that hardly justifies the way I spoke to them. As for Tempest, she saw out her fourty days.