Sunset woke the following morning to the smell of sweat and urine. She shifted, realizing that at some point during the night she had emptied her bladder all over her hindlegs. ‘At least I didn’t soil myself!’ she thought. Then she thought again. A journey to Nippony typically took almost a week even in a fast airship. ‘Crab nuggets!’ she swore silently, realizing there was no way she could hold it that long.
The stallion raised her lid looking into her crate, then pulled back. “Yeah, can’t say I enjoy this part of the job much,” he said, eye twitching. Sunset looked woefully back up at him. “Hey now, don’t you worry about that. I'm not supposed to tell you, but that’s a normal reaction, nothing wrong with you. There’s a muscle relaxant in the feed. If you didn’t get that, the cramps you’re clearly feeling would be ten times worse. That’s a normal side effect. Don’t mean anything, though I don’t envy you the smell.”
He poured a bucket of water over her, washing away the worst of the stink. The water drained from the crate through small holes in the sides near the bottom then ran down the deck to the ship's bilge.
“Don’t get too used to this pampered treatment,” he cautioned. “After today I only come by for dinner. You won’t get the double room service like you’re getting today.” He shut her lid and locked it moving on to his other passengers. She tried to keep count of how many mares he spoke to, finishing with a count of five. They seemed to all be lashed closeby, possibly all together.
His voice moved off again, the quiet of the ship returning. Only the ship's creaking and the gentle sound of the wind outside remained for companions.
I am here she sent again.
She dozed off. Evening came and with it another plain water bath and her cold oats with water. She drank and ate gratefully, her stomach rumbling with hunger. When she finished he refilled her bag with water then shut and locked her lid, moving on. A few minutes later she heard him leave, done for the night. She settled into an exhausted doze.
During the night she woke to the ship pitching back and forth, the sound of rain pelting the ships sides with thunder echoing all around them. ‘Squall line,’ she thought. ‘We must be crossing through a squall line.’ The rocking and thunder continued relentlessly.
I am here she sent.
She dozed off, sleeping fitfully. The storm continued into what she guessed was the following day. Towards what seemed midday the storms relented. She listened for any activity, but only heard a few hoofs come through, checking the lashings then moving on. They left, the only sound once again the creaking of the ship and the wind passing outside.
I am here she sent.
She woke to her plain water bath. “You look a might bit tired, filly,” noted the stallion. “Not normal for my fillies to be so tired. I think I’ll drop a bit more feed in your bucket tonight,” he mused. He dropped her feed bag in with a double portion of oats still swimming in cold water. She ate gratefully, lapping up all the feed and water in the bag. He returned a bit later, refilling her bag with water then locking her in again.
She listened to him settle the other mares then move off. Five, she counted again. There were six of them counting herself. Six mares headed for the Nipponies brothels.
I am here she sent. She dozed.
During the night, she awoke. She could hear yelling from the deck above. A resounding crack echoed through the deck, clearly the sound of a cannon shot bouncing off the hard ironwood hull of the frigate transporting them. The intensity of the shots increased, The ship rattled with the response of their own slavo, the returning barrage sending shocking jolts and ear rattling cracks rolling through their hold as the battle raged above them.
“Pirates, damn it! I can’t let them screw this up,” muttered Sunset. Channeling her magic, she teleported outside her crate to where she had seen the stallion standing, leaving her bindings behind. She crept towards the hold’s exit, searching for anyplace she could look out and see the battle.
She caught a break. One of the shots pierced the hull. Cracking through the tough ironwood near their crates, it bled off its energy bouncing back and forth through the hold smashing and shattering everything in its path as it shed its momentum. Eventually it bounced off the hull and rolled down the deck lodging itself against the wall nearby. She picked it up in her magic, levitating it to her while looking out through the hole it created.
She could see the pirates manning the cannon that scored the hit. They were loading again, preparing to widen the damage with a second shot to the same hole. Sunset watched them line up the shot then drop the torch to the gunpowder fuse. Timing her cast, she teleported the cannonball into the throat of the cannon just as it fired causing a misfire that blew out the back of the cannon, shredding the pirates manning the gun. Safe again for the moment, she scanned the rest of the attacking schooner.
Flames reflected off the sides of the pirate ship, showing their own vessel was already on fire. Two holes were pierced in the pirate ship's hull, suggesting their own armaments had already scored significant damage to their hold and possibly crew. The pirates' rigging was shredded but not in flames, indicating for that portion of the fight, perhaps the pirates had the upper hand.
The remaining pirate cannons again fired, their salvo cracking hard against the side of her ship. Deadly concussive vibrations rocked through the ironwood hull, capable of killing any crew pony unfortunate enough to be touching the hull as they raced through the ship. Overhead she heard a crack, then screaming and confusion as a cannon ball breached the hull again, bouncing around in its deadly course through the gun deck as it bleed off its lethal momentum. An answering salvo went out, two more piercing the pirate hull with accompanying screams of terror and pain from their crew.
Sunset watched as the pirate crew prepared another salvo. The battle was too evenly matched. She could not afford to lose this opportunity to follow her target to their destination. If the pirates won this engagement her trail would go cold, and she could lose any chance at rescuing the unfortunate kitsune who had been taken captive. She had to make this more decisive.
As the pirate gunner lowered his touch on the cannon opposite her, she flipped the barrel of the cannon up, bouncing it off its tracks. The muzzle rocked back inside the hold as the cannon went off.
The cannon flew back into two crews behind it killing them instantly. The ball bounced off the inside of the hull at full energy. It proceeded to pinwheel throughout the pirates gun deck, cleaving a path of blood and carnage as it ricocheted back and forth, damaging cannon mounts, crews, and armaments. As it raced through the hold it sparked off secondary explosions from the staged gunpowder causing even more death and destruction on the pirate gun deck. By the time the cannonball had completely expended its energy and rolled to rest, half of the pirate cannons were laying broken in their moorings, there were fires throughout the hold, and pirates were dead or dying everywhere.
Three bells rang out on the pirate ship and they veered off, diving into a cloudbank as they fled the scene of the battle. A resounding cheer went up from her frigate as the sea ponies realized they had won the engagement, surviving with a mostly functioning ship. She could hear ponies scrambling into the rigging to cut away the burning wreck, watching as the burning rigging drifted down to the sea past her new porthole, dropping into the ocean so they could replace the damaged parts with new.
Sunset heard hoofsteps approaching, coming down the short stairs into their hold. She teleported back into her crate, scrambling to place the ring back onto her horn and secure it around her chin. With the ring back in place, she listened for whomever was approaching.
“Sweet mother of pearl, what a mess!” she heard the stallion say. He cantered over to their crates, checking them over completely. “At least the fillies were spared,” he breathed in relief.
Sunset chose that moment to start kicking and thrashing, thumping the sides of the box and bucking the backside.
“Whoa whoa whoa! Settle down in there!” he called out, slamming his hoof down repeatedly on the lid. “Settle down! If you want me to check on you, you need to calm down right now!”
She stopped, sitting on her haunches and looking up at the lid. He opened it and she cowered down, staring up at him in fright. He looked down at her curled up tightly in the bottom of the crate.
“Oh for the love of Riley, I had to get Mary Pondini”, he groused, seeing her free from her bindings. He closed and locked the lid. “I’ll be back for you sweetheart. I need to go check on the others.” He moved off, opening then shutting the crate lids, then returned to her.
“The gods must love you bunch, not a one of you hit. Though the rest of the cargo has seen better days,” he grumbled. “Here, have some more feed and water. That’ll help you calm down. Then try to get some rest. The battle is over, you lived. Nothing more to fear,” he assured her as he removed her feed bag, placing more oats and water into it and hanging it back in her crate. “I’ll see you in the morning darling. Try to get a decent night’s sleep.” He shut and locked the lid, checking the others again as he moved off.
Sunset finished off the oats and drank the water, grateful for the extra energy after expending so much during the battle. Settling down on her haunches, she pushed the bindings up to the front of the crate and settled in for a night's sleep.
She awoke the next morning to find she was bound again, this time with leather bindings cinched tight. Her bag had been refilled with water. Her original bindings were still piled along the bottom of her crate.
Sunset groaned. “Damn it. He drugged the oats,” she grumbled to herself. She drank some water to clear her head. “At least the leather doesn’t bind as badly. The rope really cut into my legs.” She shifted, finding a more comfortable level of discomfort.
She sent out her ping again. I am here.
Around midday or thereabouts she felt the wind pick up. An hour after that the rain started pelting the sides of the ship. Within about a half hour the thunder was shaking the ship, winds constantly rocking them and shifting her weight from one side of her container to the other. Sunset heard the crew moving through the hold, calling out to each other as they checked and resecured the lashings on the cargo. They finished and moved off to other parts of the ship, battening down everything to weather the storm.
When they had moved off Sunset teleported out from her crate, still bound and wearing the inhibitor ring. She teleported again, freeing herself from the leather bindings, which she knelt and looped up over her neck for safekeeping. She moved over to the ragged porthole still left in the side of the hold, looking out from it into the storm, the rain lashing against her as it flew straight in from the gale force winds outside. She stepped back from the hole, standing with legs spread, and lowered her head looking out at the storm.
‘Here goes nothing,” she said under her breath. Gathering her magic, she channeled it through her body, calling out to the charges outside gathering in the clouds around them. Feeling them building she willed them towards the ship, willing them to strike directly on the hole in the side. Her body glowed with a bright teal aura as her spell charged then shot out from her. An overcharged bolt of lightning answered back, arcing from the cloud into the ship, blasting at the hole and ripping away more of the hull, leaving a jagged wound large enough for shipping containers to fall out of the side and into the sea.
‘Yes! Thank you Cadance!’ she thought.
Spinning around she raised a hoof, launching bolts of pure teal magical energy at the ropes binding the cargo nearby. The ropes broken, the cargo immediately slid around, some of it falling through the hole in the ship to the ocean below. She sprinted over to the crates containing the remaining mares, blasing the ropes binding them as well. She then telekinetically ripped the lock off her own crate, throwing the top open then sending it spinning across the room. She gathered the other crates in her telekinesis and teleported them all through the deck into the open air below the ship.
Falling together through the rain, Sunset looked down, searching for any sign of the ocean surface. Shortly she saw a large cresting wave below her. She teleported to its windward side, landing with a splash in the water, the five crates still held in her magic. She formed shield bubble around the crates holding them all together, then went from crate to crate, blasting the lid open and pulling the sputtering mares out one by one, placing them atop their scuttled cargo crates. The mares looked around, wet, shaking and shivering.
When all of the mares were out of their crates and huddled down on their boxes, Sunset sent out another magical pulse.
Come get me.
Within minutes several naval pegasus officers were visible through the storm heading in her direction. Dropping the shield spell as they approached, Sunset called out over the storm. “Save these mares!” Alighting quickly, a pegasus grabbed each of the mares and flew back off into the storm, returning to their vessel.
A pegasus stallion lit down on the box next to her. “We received your messages, mage. What can I do to help?!” he yelled over the storm.
“I need to get back on that frigate!” yelled Sunset back. “Can you get me close enough to see it so I can teleport back onto it?! First though, I need you to re-secure my bindings. It can’t look like I escaped!”
“Can do ma’am!” he called out. She laid down on her crate and he quickly took the belts, rebinding her legs with his wings, hooves, and teeth. He straddled her, wrapped his limbs around her barrel and lifted off from the crate.
“One second!” called out Sunset. She quickly sent five telekinetic blasts from her hooves, splintering the crates beyond recognition. The officer glided up into the storm, using his best reconning to head towards Sunset’s frigate.
Several minutes later Sunset saw her frigate ahead of them silhouetted by frequent flashes of lightning. She teleported out of his grip to a position just over the ship, then disappeared as she started to fall, teleporting into the hold.
She appeared behind several boxes in the stern of the hold. She could hear crew members swearing as they worked to secure the cargo sliding around the deck, lashing everything down again to keep more of their shipments from falling through the jagged hole in the side of the ship.
She saw the stallion racing around, looking through the cargo for his missing mares. Cold, wet, and shivering, she crawled out from behind the boxes, rolling and inching along towards him as best she could with her hobbles. Looking up, he saw her and raced over to her.
“Where are the others?” he called out in panic.
She looked towards the hole in the side of the ship, shaking in affected terror. She curled up into a ball. “Gone,” she cried in a small voice.
“Buck me! Shit, shit, shit!” he swore, punching the hull with a hoof. “Damn it!” He looked down at the mare curled into a ball, still shaking at his hooves.
“Okay, come with me. Let’s get you out of here,” he said, lifting her over his back. He saddle-carried her through the hold and up the stairs to the gun deck. From there he trotted up to the stern bunkings, setting her down in his bunk then sitting down beside her.
“Hey Jerko! What ya doing? Find some mermaid to buck?” laughed a crewmate in the bunk across from him.
“Can it, bait breath! I already lost the rest of my cargo! I’m gonna be in deep trouble for that. But if I lose this one it’ll be my head!”
“You couldn’t pay me to babysit like you do,” nodded his crewmate. “Way too easy to get a permanent mane cut.”
The stallion nodded. Sunset drifted off to sleep, the sound of the storm and the rocking ship lulling her to slumber.
She woke to find the stallion had lashed her to his bunk. He was gone, but there were plenty of off duty crew members sleeping or loafing in the bunks around them.
The stallion returned, a bowl of steaming food set on his back. Reaching the bunk, he set the bowl of stew down before her.
“Breaks your heart, I know. But your oats went over the side with your friends and a bunch of our cargo, so you’ll have to live off the gruel we deal with,” he smirked. “Eat up filly. Then I’ll get you some water and take you to the head. Can’t have you crapping on my bunk now.” He laughed.
Sunset shifted herself forward, leaning over the bowl. She dipped her muzzle down into the stew and hungrily bit into it, lapping up every bit of gravy in the bowl.
“Somepony was hungry,” he grinned. “One sec, I'll get you that water.” He returned with a large cup of water which he carefully poured into the bowl. Sunset lapped it up greedily while he returned the cup to the water station.
Returning, he unlashed her from the bed and set her over his shoulders. “Now the head. I know that’s gonna run right through you cause you're not used to it anymore.” He trotted off to the crew head, waiting in line with her. When her turn came he carefully set her down on the seat, then turned around, his back to her. “Give me a nudge when you’re done,” he called out.
She did her ablutions then nudged him with her muzzle. “All done?” he asked, turning around. “Good.” He helped her clean up then placed her on his back, carrying her back to the bunk and lashing her down again. “Can't have you wandering off again,” he grinned.
Sunset dozed. When she woke the storm had passed. Looking out through the porthole in the opposite wall she saw clear skies with stars twinkling in the night sky. A shooting star flew by, dropping low then fading as it burned up. Sunset smiled. Looking down, she saw the stallion sleeping on a blanket on the floor next to the cot. She looked back out the window, enjoying the night sky. Eventually she fell back asleep.
She woke up. She could see the morning sky through the small porthole. The sun was still low over the waves, rising to start a new day. She smiled, thinking of her mentor a half world away and the two mares that were like sisters to her.
A while later the stallion returned, another bowl balanced on his back as he navigated the bunks and lockers. He smiled as he trotted up.
“Hey filly. Brought you some breakfast because, why not? Enjoy!” He set the bowl of porridge and dried fruit down before her.
“Thank you,” she rasped then set into the porridge, finishing off the bowl quickly. He left and returned with the water, filling the bowl. She lapped it up.
“Lemme know when you gotta use the head. And try to plan ahead,” he laughed. “There’s always a long line after breakfast.” Picking up the bowl, he set it on his back then left to return it to the ship's galley. When he returned Sunset was once again sound asleep.
Sunset felt rumbling as she woke. She stretched and nudged the stallion’s back with her muzzle. He turned to look at her. “Got to use the head?” he asked. She nodded.
He unlashed her. Setting her across his back, he carried her to the crew head where they performed the same procedure as last time. Finished, he carried her back and lashed her to the bed again. Sunset leaned back and fell almost immediately asleep. He sat down beside the bunk to wait for dinner.
She awoke to him setting another bowl of stew before her. “You know the drill, filly,” he smiled. Nodding, she dipped her muzzle into the bowl and finished off the dinner. He fetched water which she finished off as well. He returned the cup to the station and the bowl to the galley. Then he carried her to the crew head again, same routine as before. He brought her back to the bed, lashed her in, then sat down beside it. She fell asleep.
She woke in the middle of the night, once again to clear skies and twinkling stars. Watching for a while, she fell back asleep.
She woke as he set another bowl of porridge and dried fruit before her. “Last room service for this voyage, filly! We’ll make port this afternoon,” he smiled. He poured her water into her bowl when she finished, then returned the dishes to where they belonged. He took her again to the crew head where she did the needful. Returning, he lashed her to the bed to wait out the remainder of her trip.
As they neared the Nipponies port the rest of the crew became frantically busy, stowing gear, prepping lines, and getting the frigate ready to land in the bay below, then sail to the docks and offload their cargo.
Because they no longer had her cargo crate which was smashed in the storm, Sunset was placed in a large shipping crate. To fit in, she curled up on her side. The stallion placed the lid on and hammered it into place.
The frigate landed in the bay, then quickly re-rigged to sail to the docks where they moored and unloaded. The gangplank dropped, the stallion lifted Sunset’s crate, balanced it on his shoulders, then carried it down the gangplank and over to the waiting lorry. He loaded it, then gave it two taps, calling out softly to its side.
“Good luck, filly!”
The lorry drove off into the busy streets, taking Sunset one step closer to her objective.