//------------------------------// // Derailed // Story: The Open Sea // by NahB //------------------------------// Twilight and Rarity stood, mouths agape. The harbor, in the twenty minutes it had taken them to leisurely return from Zecora, had filled with ships. These ships, however, had blue sails. Ships from the Severed Isles. The Free Mare was nowhere in sight, which pleased Twilight. This meant that they had followed her contingency plan – head to one of the concealed bays around the island if trouble reared its ugly head. Crest had only two, so the pair would only have to check those two relatively close areas. Twilight and Rarity looked on. All over the harbor, small skiffs were streaming from the intruding ships toward shore. Closer inspection revealed that all of the skiffs had half a dozen or so armed ponies in them. Her eyes widened in realization. The Isles had jumped from isolationism to expansionism, and Crest was in its sights. And so were they, being on the Island. War was obviously brewing. Somehow, Twilight had to get word of this to her brother. But how? Zecora. “Rarity, we have to go get Zecora off this island. Who knows what they’ll do if they catch an Equestrian spy?” “I agree, Twilight. Let’s get her. Which cove are we checking first when we do?” “We’ll head to the eastern cove. It’s closer.” Rarity nodded and the two unicorns took off at a gallop. They arrived at the Luxury Bale in only a fraction of their previous time, panting from their frantic run. The door parted at their knock, revealing a surprised and confused-looking Zecoa. “What has transpired, for you to return so tired?” the zebra asked. “Zecora,” Twilight began saying between gasps, “you have to come with us. The island is being invaded. You’ve gotta come.” Zecora eyed the pair. “I trust you, my friends. But I ask – my leaving brings about what ends?” “Zecora, please just trust us for now!” Zecora hesitated a moment, then joined the two unicorns. The three mares gathered together and fell into a canter to the east. The easier pace allowed Twilight to speak. “The Severed Isles have sent ships to Crest. They’re deploying troops on land. Zecora looked startled. “So soon? Ah, it is just as well. Nothing I have learned of late has boded well.” Rarity looked sharply at the other mare. “You knew this was going to happen? Why didn’t you warn anypony?” “Nopony could be bothered to believe strange, old me – none would allow themselves to see.’ Twilight looked troubled. “This is going to mean war, isn’t it? The islands are going to have to choose sides or be gobbled up.” Zecora gave the lavender unicorn a long glance. “That may be so. Tell me, girls, where do we go?” Twilight spoke up again. “We figured it wouldn’t be good for an Equestrian spy to be captured by the enemy, so we’re taking you out of here. Our ship left port for one of the concealed coves around the island the moment there was trouble.” “I very much appreciate this. Getting passage on my own would have been hit-or-miss.” For another half hour, the three mares continued east through the forests of Crest Island. Finally, the trees ended and they found themselves staring at two ships – one being the Free Mare with its soft, red sails and the other being the Cult’s Nimbus. “Thank Celestia,” Twilight exclaimed. A small party of ponies on the beach saw them and waved them over. The mares trotted down to them. “Twilight, Rarity! Zecora?” Rainbow dash said as they approached. Before Rainbow could say anything else, Applejack trotted forward. “It’s mighty good to see ya again, Zecora. Glad you three are safe. Soon as we spotted them ships, Ah hightailed it outta there and Dash flew over to the Nimbus to alert ‘em. Waited here, as per orders, Twi.” “Good. Let’s get going. We have to get out of these guys’ path.” “Alright. Then let’s get everypony back out at sea.” Twilight turned to Horn, who was standing not far away speaking to Wing. “So? Where first?” Horn looked at her. “Back to Fog. I want you to take a look at the Vault and tell me what’s different.” Twilight nodded at the green unicorn. “Sounds good. Zecora,” she said, turning to the zebra, “You think you can find passage to Canter Island from Fog?” Zecora nodded. With that decided, all of them travelled to their respective ships and set sail once more, leaving the invaded Crest behind. Several days later Twilight stared at the harbor from a safe distance, the Mare and the Nimbus staying far away from the Island. This was all-out war. It was obvious. Crest, now Fog. All around Fog Island were ships bearing the symbol of Canter Island. Apparently she didn’t have to tell her brother that there was trouble – he already knew, and was pushing back. Sighing sadly, Twilight nerved herself and teleported over to the Nimbus. Horn turned around at the noise, and frowned at the lavender unicorn. “What’s the holdup? This shouldn’t affect us.” Closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. A headache was coming on, and these problems would only make it worse. “It shouldn’t. But it does. The Free Mare can’t go ashore. I already have my crew swapping out to white sails, but our ship is unique.” “Why can’t you go ashore? What’s the problem?” Twilight sighed. She hoped that her problem would have been avoidable in these waters, but the upcoming conflict was going to make that unavoidable. “The Free Mare and her crew are not welcome in Equestrian territory. We refused to be assimilated into their army and deserted when we were forced to.” Horn frowned, and brought up the hood on her cloak. “I can see why this affects the job, then. But I need you in that vault. There’s nothing preventing my ship from going on to the Island.” “There’s another problem,” Twilight groaned. “We’ve been at sea for the better part of a month now with no fresh infusion of supplies. We need food.” Horn thought a moment. “Well, if we disguised a few of you as initiates, we can get you on the island without question. We could also pick up extra supplies and bring them to the Mare. But it’ll have to stay out of sight.” Twilight nodded. “We’ll do that, then. Hold on, I’ll be back.” With that, Twilight teleported back over to her ship. Her crew was waiting on the upper deck, where she had asked. “Listen up. We have to go fast. A couple of us are going to Fog to investigate, get some supplies, and see what’s going on. The rest of you will keep on the water, away from the Equestrian ships on the other side of the Island. No arguments – this is how it’s happening.” Nopony said anything – good. “Fluttershy, you and Cheerilee are coming with me. The rest of you are staying on the ship. Zecora, you’re coming too. You can catch a ride with one of the Equestrian ships.” The three ponies mentioned walked forward and stood by Twilight. “Anything goes wrong, you all know the plan. Good luck,” She said, and teleported the four mares over to the Nimbus. Upon arrival, she found several dull green cloaks awaiting them. “Once we reach harbor, you won’t be allowed to speak until we get back to our home,” Horn told them. She then looked at Zecora. “What excuse do we have for transporting the zebra?” Zecora was about to speak up, but Cheerilee spoke first. “Perhaps she asked for passage with you? Not too far from the truth.” Horn considered it, then nodded. “Makes sense.” The Nimbus brought its anchor up and made its way toward the island as Twilight, Fluttershy and Cheerilee donned their cloaks. Nervous, the three mares looked around the ship as they grew closer. Suddenly, another ship, faster than nearly every other ship on the water, appeared on the horizon. It grew closer impossibly fast – as if something more than just wind was propelling it. “Oh, no, please, Celestia no.” Twilight’s eyes were like dinner plates – one of the worst things possible was happening. She looked around and didn’t see the Free Mare anywhere in sight – good. Everypony on the Nimbus watched as a superfast vessel passed them. “The Equestria,” Twilight muttered. Cheerilee and Fluttershy glanced at each other, and Zecora only looked at the ship. “This is going to present a problem,” Twilight said to Horn. “What is it,” the unicorn asked, getting annoyed at the complicatedness of the situation. “That’s the Equestria, fastest ship in the fleet. Only one pony can captain it.” “Well? What’s the problem?” “The problem, miss Horn, is that the one pony that can captain that ship is the King himself. And if the king is coming, that means they’re going to have to check out the ship when we get to the Island. They’ll inspect everypony coming to land. Nopony should recognize us, but it’s just an unneeded complication.” “We’ll deal with trouble if we get to it,” Horn said, dismissing it. The three fugitive ponies paced nervously until they finally arrived at Fog Island. The island wasn’t huge, but the harbor was full. Counting the Nimbus, the harbor that usually held no more than 5 or 6 ships was now home to 13 ships. As the Nimbus prepared its boarding ramp, several soldiers arrived below. They moved up the ramp when it was ready, and Horn approached them. “What is your business?” One of them asked, eyeing the crew in their strange cloaks. Twilight, Fluttershy and Cheerilee all kept their hoods down. Zecora approached the soldiers at this point. “I have been travelling with this band – for they are the inhabitants of this little land.” One of the soldiers in the group started, and nudged the one who had spoken. “Sir, that’s Zecora. I recognize her.” The one who had spoken motioned the zebra over, who complied. “Thank you for bringing an invaluable source of information back to us. May I inquire as to your identity?” Horn spoke this time. “We are the Cult of Fog, returning after a voyage to Crest Island. “ The soldier seemed to recognize the name. “Carry on,” he said, and the group left the ship and went back to the main force of soldiers. A moment after, Horn motioned to the group behind her. “Let us go. No need to dally.” Horn, followed by ten ponies, made her way down the ramp. However, at the end of the pier connected to the Island, a voice rang out that made the three from the Free Mare flinch. “The Cult of Fog! Wonderful!” Shining Armor, king of Equestria, flanked by Queen Cadance and a slew of guards, called out to them. One does not ignore that call, so Horn and the rest of the ponies following her turned to face the pair, bowing down. He waved a hoof. “No need for that. I simply want to thank you for returning a valuable friend to me and to meet a group I admire. Who, may I ask, leads this little band?” Twilight, Cheerilee, Fluttershy and the other three initiates all kept their hoods down, heads shrouded. Horn stepped forward. “I do, your majesty. I am Horn, and I am simply bringing my companions back to our home after some time at sea. I have initiates to train.” Shining Armor smiled. “Ah, good to see new ponies interested in the pursuit of knowledge.” He stepped forward and looked closely at the six in initiates’ robes. Luckily, Horn was able to grab the King’s attention. “We prefer to keep them humble, so as to let them know that one must put oneself aside for the pursuit of pure knowledge.” “Ah, quite noble! I agree that… dear, what’s wrong?” At this, Twilight looked up just enough to see what was going on. Cadance was staring at her, eyes wide. Twilight did her best not to flinch, and realized that a little bit of her mane was sticking out of her cloak. Her mane, unfortunately, was quite distinctive – she’d gotten lucky that her brother had ignored it. Not so lucky, however, that Cadance would have. Shining Armor followed her gaze and his eyes also went wide when he recognized his sister. Twilight could only wonder what was going through the mind of her brother and sister-in-law. “Nothing, dear, just thought I recognized one of the initiates. I was mistaken.” Cadance had recovered, but was now looking sternly at Twilight. Shining Armor looked like he wanted to say something more, but saw the look in his wife’s eyes, and stopped. He glanced at his sister again. Twilight didn’t know exactly what the Queen was thinking, but she could read that gaze. It told her to “Go away from here, far, far away.” Something Twilight would be glad to do as soon as possible. “Well. I’m sorry to have taken your time. Please, go on. Nopony will trouble you,” Shining Armor said, regaining his composure. Horn only nodded as their group moved on. Twilight gave a glance to her relatives, trying to convey her thousand “Thank-you” thoughts in one look. Then they were past, and Twilight could focus on getting her heart to slow down.