//------------------------------//
// Discoveries 
// Story: High Tide, Low Company 
// by MacDragon 
//------------------------------//


Discoveries


Pip was roused by the sound of work being done on deck.  It was light outside, late morning he guessed by the light.  He looked over, Dinky was still fast asleep, she remained so even after he had gotten out of bed and gotten ready.  He left her that way and headed out into the sunlight.

The crew was scrubbing the decks, repairing missed spots from the previous night, cleaning and rearming the cannons and getting the ship back up to par.  Some of them looked haggard; others were going about with energetic movement.  Radko stood at the helm, guiding the ship easily through the calm waters.  The wind was fair behind them, Pip was certain they would make good time, no doubt to reach their destination by late afternoon or early evening.  He was certain but would ask the first mate later to be sure.

Pip trotted up to the helm.  Radko offered the wheel but Pip was content to let the stallion continue.  He watched the crew labor as he went over the charts and logs.  He was sure to check their water supply, medical, food, munitions, the works.  All was in line; they were well supplied after the gift from the Royal Navy back in Jibland.  There was a grumble of a clearing throat beside him as he finished the log checks.  He turned to see the tech, Nixx, standing across from him.

“Good morning,” he said, “may I speak with you for a moment?”

“Yes, yes what is it?” Pip asked.

“It’s the medallion.  I gave it quite a working over last night.  I used rags, brushes, chemicals, even magic, nothing I tried cleared the stain away.  Whatever it is it isn't going to go away.” He said, looking at Radko in question.  Pip noticed the glance, “Radko, listen in if you would.  I don’t know when, or if, I will get another chance to fill you in as I’ve not had a moment to do so recently.”  He said to the first mate.

“Yes, the medallion, I know of it.  And the marks Quix found on the injured and dead at Jibland.  He and I talked extensively this previous night.”  Replied the normally silent stallion.

Pip was not surprised by this.  Radko had a knack for gathering information from the crew.  It was his job after all, and it saved Pip and Nixx from having to back track in order to fill him in on the goings on.  

“So it wont clean off?  Is there more?”  Pip asked.

“Yes.  There is, or rather there was.  While I was inspecting it I noticed there used to be some type of writing on the reverse side but it’s all but worn off now.  I don’t think I’ll be able to get it to show.” Nixx finished.

“Well that’s unfortunate, we need any information we can get at this point we’re sailing with one eye as it were.”  Pip said.  

“I can try a few more things but it’ll take time.  I just thought you would want to know there is a good chance it’ll lead to not.” Nixx finished.

“That’s fine, do what you can, don’t work too hard on it though.  Don’t need to buck a dead tree.”  Pip said with a little comic tone.

Nixx took his leave of them, taking the medallion with him, returning below to his own room where he mostly kept to himself and his tinkering.

“Radko, how much longer do you think it will be till we make land in the scope?” Pip asked.

“If we maintain our speed than we should make sighting by early evening captain.” He replied stoically.  

Pip was glad to hear it.  Their calculations differed a bit but they were close enough to give him a decent timeframe of arrival.

“Good, keep up the work.” Pip replied.

There was a shout that cut them off any further discussion.  It came from the forward spotter. 

“Contact!  Captain you need to come see this!”  Said the spotter.

Pip looked to Radko and then headed quickly to the scope.  The spotter stepped aside, his pupils were small, eyes wide.  Something had scared him badly.  Pip Stepped up to the scope and worked the mechanisms to bring the target closer and into focus again.  It was the ship from the previous night.  Scorched side and all, that wasn’t what had frightened the spotter though.  It was something far more sinister.

Pip looked on in mixed horror and revulsion at the scene ahead.  Something had befallen the ship in the night after their fight.  Pip was sure of it.  The rigging was destroyed, ropes were cut and tangled, the sails had long vertical rips in them.  There were places on the hull, deck, railing, that looked as though they’d been gashed with something like an axe or sword, the wood was splintered and looked shredded.

They were coming up on the ship fast.  Pip gave the command to slow the ship so they could pull up beside it for a closer look.  The crew did as ordered.  “Man battle stations.”  He commanded, “Be ready for anything.”  

They came up on the ship slowly.  The crew did their best to stay quiet, but one could not fail to hear them gasp, some prayed, others wretched.  The stench was sour and clung in ones nose, making it hard to breathe without gagging.  But that was the least of the problem.  The scene unfolded in a grisly display.  The ship was silent.  Floating low in the water, probably still taking on water from the previous night’s engagement; this allowed for the crew to see everything from where they stood.

The crew of the other ship, or what had been, was all dead by the looks of it.  Their bodies were strung up in the rigging by their hind legs.  The bodies, there were so many, swayed in the ocean wind.  As they turned one could see the wounds they’d died from.  All of them were ripped from throat to flank.  They were clean cuts, the blood had all but run out of most of them, some though still dropped flecks of blood as they swayed to and fro.  The guts of the dead crew had fallen out of many, decorating the deck in a grisly tinsel of intestines and other organs.  Some had not fallen out and instead hung limply outside of the owner’s body.  

The flies were everywhere.  Black clouds of them swarmed the bodies of the dead and the living alike.  Their bites were painful, Quix went about with a salve and applied it to each ponies back in a light and quick wipe, it was a pungent smelling liquid but once applied the flies left them alone for the most part.  They stood there in silent shock for a long time, none could help to stare, nopony said a word.  Most just muttered and gagged, a couple passed out and were quickly taken below.  There were many that had been sick.  They grouped on the other side of the ship, doing their best not to look back as they divulged the contents of their breakfast into the sea.

Nixx walked slowly up to Pip, doing his best to stifle a gag himself.  “What…should we do? He asked.  

“Can you get one of your.... water cannons up here quickly?  Take.....anyone you need with you.  We need to clear the deck before......we go over.”  Pip said between breaths and gags.  

“You can’t be serious Captain.  This is bad bad bad.”  He heard from above.  It was Stormwing.  She hovered above them, both hooves on her nose, making her voice sound nasally.  

“Yes...I am serious.  I only need a quick look, see if there is anything....of use to us on the.....deck.  I don’t plan on going below...deck.  I imagine it’s much like above.”  Pip said.

Nixx went below with two other ponies, leaving the rest of them staring at the horrific scene before them.  They returned quickly, Nixx latched the cannon onto the railing and tossed a hose over.  He latched another apparatus to the rail beside it, which he promptly had one pony start turning.  Soon the cannon was spraying a strong stream of water and the deck of the other ship was soon rinsed of the largest amount of blood.  The gore however would not be moved far.

“Radko, you’re with me, you as well Nixx....Get a board across now.” Pip said quickly.  There was a bustle of movement and a loud thud as a board was dropped onto their rail and the other ships railing.  Pip and Radko jumped onto it and quickly trotted across, they were joined by Nixx shortly after.  They spread out across the deck.  Rakdo went up to the helm, Nixx to the front of the ship and Pip looked around the center.  

“Captain...”  Radko said in a quiet voice from the helm.  

Pip worked his way up to the helm where Radko stood looking down.  As he made it around the side of the stallion he slowed to a walk.  On the deck lay one body.  It was mangled and ripped.  Its chest was a shredded mess; the guts were visible to the naked eye, ribs sticking out into the air like spires of white.  Pip did everything he could not to puke right there.  Radko did.

Nixx came up behind him and gasped in mixed shock and horror.  He moved around the corpse.  Staring at it in horror, Radko was leaning heavily on the railing.  Pip had never seen the stoic and solid stallion so affected by something.  Nixx gasped a strangled gasp.  

Pip looked over and saw the unicorn’s horn glowing.  He looked down at the body and saw the white glow of magic around its mouth.  Slowly, and to Pips horror, Nixx pulled another medallion out of the corpse’s mouth.  Pip and Nixx were gagging now; Nixx wiped the medal on the driest part of the corpses remaining cloths and placed it in his satchel.  He moved to walk back to the ship and kicked the side of the corpse when he tripped on the up swell.  There was a dull thump.  They looked down again, a journal had fallen out of the one remaining pocket, Nixx magicked that up as well.  Wiping away the blood on it with a rag that he then dropped to the deck, he placed the journal in the satchel as well and quickly retreated to the Bonnie lass, followed closely by Pip and Radko.

“What did you find?  Are we leaving?”  Quix asked curiously.  Radko was still green around the face.  Even his legs were a bit shaky.  Stormwing swooped down to his side and draped a wing across his back.  Radko leaned his head on her shoulder, eyes closed and breathing deeply.  

“Radko, go down below.  Take as long as you need.  Same for you Nixx.”  Pip said quietly.  

Radko nodded slowly and allowed himself to be guided away by Stormwing.  Nixx gathered himself quickly and took his leave.  Taking the satchel with him, which was fine by Pip; he knew the tech would probably not be lazing about in his quarter but tooling and examining the new clues.  Pip was certain he’d hear from the tech before nightfall.

The rest of the crew looked to Pip now.  “Danza, take the wheel.”  The rest of you....ready the blaze guns.  Danza, would you be so kind as to bring us about.”   The ship lurched forward lightly as the wind caught the sails again and they cut their ties to the other ship.  They quickly pulled away and then turned back around bearing down on the crippled ship, once close enough he gave the command.  “Fire.”

The Blaze guns belched their liquid fire forth, painting the ship evenly across its side.  The flames took instantly, eating at the ships already scared planks.  It ate at the ship, spreading quickly.  Soon the entire vessel was engulfed in fire.  Ash and smoke poured into the sky as they sailed away, continuing on their way to Gallopfry.

Pip stood at the helm now.  Guiding the ship in the receding light of day, due to their unscheduled stop they would reach the island of Gallopfry by early morning.  Pip was considering pushing it back to early afternoon and allowing the crew to rest for the night.  After the things they saw in the day many of them could use the extra rest, perhaps some grog to scour their minds clean.  He himself was haunted by the images of what they’d seen.  In all his years as captain he’d never seen anything as gruesome as what he’d witnessed on board that ship today.  And that was saying a lot; he’d seen plenty of terrible things in actions of the past.  Ponies shot, stabbed, cut.  He’d even seen cannonballs blast holes in crewmembers, nearly severing them in two.  But never before had he seen such outright butchery.

Dinky had slept most of the day.  She now came out of the cabin.  It was quiet.  Many of the crew lazed about the deck in a trancelike stupor.  Pip was not going to push them after what they’d witnessed.  It would prove to be a payless endeavor.  Even he was want for rest and some needed relaxation.  He wondered how Radko was doing.  He’d never had thought anything would be able to shake that stallion.  But it did. 

Dinky ambled up to the helm, “How long was I out?” she asked him.  

“Most of the day, It’s sunset now.”  Pip replied evenly.

“You let me sleep through a whole day!” Dinky said in a shocked tone.

“Be glad that you did.  It was not a day of cheer.”  Pip replied quietly.

It was now that Dinky looked around and noticed the general lack of movement aboard the Bonnie Lass.  The ponies that sat around or in groups, somber faced and quiet.  

“What happened?  Did we lose somepony?” She asked quietly, stepping closer to Pip.  

“No. We’re all accounted for.”  Pip replied.

“Where is Radko?  And Nixx?”  Dinky noticed the absence of the more prevalent regulars.

“Like I said, it was a rough day.  The ship from last night.  We found it again.”  He said quietly.

“I slept through a fight?!”  Dinky said in disbelief.

“No, there was no fight.  There was nopony to offer one.”  Pip replied.

“What do you mean, did they surrender?”  Dinky asked.

“No.  They were all dead.  Every one of them, it was horrible.  Somepony, or something, killed them all.  They were strung up by their hind legs, dangling in the rigging.  Gutted, bleeding, and blowing in the wind.  It was terrible.  I’m glad you slept through it.”  Pip let it all out at once in a quiet broken voice.

“By Celestia.  How horrible.  I don’t even know what to say.  It must have been terrible.  What did you do?  Are you ok?” Dinky said quietly.

“We boarded it.  Radko, Nixx and I.  We went aboard and searched the deck.  Radko found a body.  Mutilated and destroyed.  It was Nixx who found what we brought back.  A journal in the bodies coat pocket; and another medallion, which he pulled from its mouth with magic.”  Pip said.

Dinky stood there in silence.  She had no idea what she could say to that.  Instead she stepped close to Pip and nuzzled him under his chin.  The simple act saying more than she could have with words, she could feel his shoulders relax a bit as he sighed. 

Danza and Zanza came out from below.  They were not as quiet, talking to crew members; they were the night shift, whatever had happened during the day they were mostly oblivious to.  They found out the story quickly though from the surgeon.  He was top deck as well.  Looking over the quieter ponies to be sure they were ok.  The Zebra twins stopped and talked to the surgeon for some time before Danza came up to take the wheel from Pip.  It was now starting to get dark and Pip had a decision to make.

“Raise the sails.  Drop anchor.  We stay here for the night.  The crew needs it.  Danza, Zanza look over Bonnie Lass.  It’ll be a quiet night I’m sure.”  Pip said.  The crew on top deck immediately began securing the ship for the night.  Pip and Dinky worked their way below deck.  There they found the galley at full steam.  Apparently the chef’s had heard and were cooking up a good meal for the crew.  The word was quickly passed of a large meal and a bit more lenient allowance of grog for the night. 

Once the meal was served and the grog handed out the crew began to unwind from the days stressful events.  Soon they were playing games and singing songs.  Their spirits lifted with the good food and the mind numbing effect of the alcohol.  Even Pip partook in a cup.  Dinky passed like usual.  She had no affinity for the strong drink.  Pip normally didn't either but a cup once and awhile was not uncommon.

They enjoyed a festive meal and a rare, once in a blue moon desert.  Desert being a thing vastly uncommon while at sea.  This day had been one that deserved it though.  Pip and Dinky bid the crew good night after enjoying the revelries for a short time.  Pip was tired, Dinky still needed more rest as well.  They headed to top deck where Danza was at the helm.  Zanza sat at the prow of the ship watching over things in quiet.  Radko and Stormwing had also found their way up top.  Radko looked much improved but still haggard and prone to shivers once in a while.  Pip left them alone, following Dinky into their cabin.  There he hung his saber and hat upon the bedrail like usual.  He rolled into the bed and reached over to close the window hatch.  The night air was cold and he just wanted to be warm.  He lay on his back staring at the ceiling, wondering to himself what it was, if anything, Nixx would find.  The tech must have fallen asleep; Pip had thought to hear from him before the night end but had seen neither hide nor hair of him since he went below.  His mind wandered to and fro before he just stared at the ceiling in a blank stare.

Dinky moved to the bed after she had brushed her main out for the night.  At his side she leaned over and nuzzled his neck, waking him from his stupor.  Pip looked at her with care and nuzzled back affectionately.  He went to lie back once more but Dinky didn’t let him, she leaned forward and locked him in a passionate kiss.  Pip felt a wave of heat shoot through his body.  He leaned into the kiss, returning the passion lip for lip.  Dinky pushed him back down gently and climbed onto the bed above him, effectively straddling him.  Pip had no intention of letting sleep get between them now; wrapping his forearms around her in a warm and lustful, yet loving and gentle embrace.  Their passion and lovemaking only grew from there in the young night.  Sleep would come, but for now, they were going to enjoy each other.