//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Adventures Aboard the R.E.S. Rising Moon // by LunaDeluxe //------------------------------// Chapter 5 Day 8 Midday Twilight laid on the starboard railing of the bridge deck, her back right leg dangling over the side with the rest tucked under her, alternating between reading her book and watching Thunderlane run PT drills with his weather team. Several other groups were exercising, in the air and on the deck. Wind rustled her mane as the Wonderbolts soared past her. Spitfire was having them fly laps around the ship, except for Fleet Foot and Rainbow Dash; the former standing watch a few meters away from Twilight and the latter still recovering in the sick bay. Twilight's eyes drifted over the words on the page, without really paying attention, as her thoughts tore her mind away from the book. A splash of bright colors in the corner of her vision drew her eyes to the stairs leading up to the deck. Rainbow Dash walked onto the deck and trotted towards Twilight, a blithe grin on her face. Twilight hopped off the rail and met her halfway across the deck. "Hey Rainbow! It's great to see you up here." Twilight greeted her, wrapping her forehooves around Rainbow's neck in a crushing hug. "Ow, ow, ow! Leggo!" Rainbow said, pushing Twilight off of her. "It's good to see you too, but this still hurts." She rubbed the left side of her neck, just under a long, jagged, red scar. "Sorry," Twilight grinned apologetically. She led the way back over to where she had been sitting and draped herself comfortably back over the railing. "Did you enjoy the book I brought you?" "Yeah, it's really good. I haven't quite finished it yet though." Rainbow leaned leisurely against the railing as she spoke. "I have the next two in the series with me if you would like to read them when you’re done" Twilight suggested. "Sure, sounds good," Rainbow said without looking at her. She was looking out over the railing still smiling but not really paying attention. "Are you going to join your team for PT?" Twilight asked. "No." Twilight cocked her head and laid her ears against her head, frowning. "Why not?" she asked, trying to pull Rainbow into a conversation. After a minute she turned and looked at Twilight. Finally able to see her face, Twilight saw dark circles under Rainbow's eyes, and red veins criss-crossing the whites of her eyes. "Huh?" Rainbow said. Twilight rolled her eyes and asked again. "Why aren't you going to join your team for PT?" "Oh, the doc says to take it easy for a couple days. If I go flying or anything I might pull something in my shoulder or neck and impede the healing." "Are you alright?" Twilight asked with concern leaking into her voice. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, why?" "Well, you seem distracted," Twilight paused while Rainbow yawned, "...and tired. Have you been sleeping alright?" "No, not really," Rainbow met Twilight's eyes and her grin faded but then she seemed to shy back, then looked away. "Uh, I guess it's kinda hard to sleep with an achy neck... The scar is just sore sometimes and it makes it hard to sleep." "Alright..." Twilight said slowly, unwilling to let the topic lie but unable to coax her into speaking of it further. She glanced back over at the weather team as they did push ups with their wings, chanting a cadence led by Thunderlane. They had been at it for almost an hour now and were all panting and sweaty. Thunderlane stood up and flicked the sweat off of his tail, swishing it back and forth. Her eyes followed the blue lines on his tail to its base then slid across his dark grey back to his flank and to his cutie mark; a thundercloud with a lightning bolt striking out from the bottom. She inspected it for a short moment, then she traced the sharp lines of his thigh muscles, across to his side and to his rippling shoul- "Um, why don't you just go talk to him?" Rainbow Dash asked, interrupting her thoughts. "What? Who?" she said quickly, then she shoved her nose back into her book to hide her reddening face. Rainbow laughed nervously. Her voice was still a little tense but she seemed to be making an effort to forget what had been bothering her. "Whatdya mean who? The stallion you've been boring holes into with your eyes for the past two minutes," she said with a grin. "I wasn't just looking at Thunderlane, I was watching the whole weather team," Twilight said quietly. "I never said 'Thunderlane,' but thanks for letting me know who you were ogling," Rainbow couldn't stop herself from laughing now as Twilight's face turned completely red. After a few moments Rainbow regained her composure, albeit loosely, and continued. "C'mon, just go talk to him. What could possibly go wrong?" Twilight sighed. “Fine, I’ll go talk to him, if you can be quiet," Twilight whispered as Rainbow's boisterous laughing drew a few glances from some of the crew on the deck. "Alright, alright, I'll stop." Rainbow quieted down but couldn't keep away short bursts of giggles as Twilight got off the railing and started towards Thunderlane. Her face flushed again and she turned her eyes down at the deck as she thought of what she was going to say. She looked back up at Thunderlane. The group was cleaning up after their workout and moving off the deck. Thunderlane had a towel in his teeth and he was wiping off the sweat from his back. Then he looked right at her. Her gaze locked right on his striking yellow eyes and she froze mid stride, her mind going blank. He paused for a moment, then set the towel on his back and trotted over to her. "Hello, Princess," he said cheerfully, stopping a few feet in front of her. Her mouth opened to respond but nothing came out. She raked through her mind, searching for the words that seemed to have disappeared from her memory. Say something! "Good morning!" she said, her voice cracking slightly. That was stupid. It's noon. she thought, mentally kicking herself. Her heart was beating quickly now; she hadn't been this nervous since she was late to send a letter to Celestia. She stared at Thunderlane, completely silent. He grinned awkwardly, then after a moment of silence said, "It's a lovely day isn't it?" He looked up at the sky to break the uncomfortable eye contact. "Yes, yes it is," Twilight said while she tried to find something interesting on the floor to look at. This isn't going well. Thunderlane looked back at Twilight. "Is there something I could help you with?" he asked. She brought her eyes back up to his. "Yes! I was wondering if you would like to... uh," her voice trailed off as doubt got the better of her. One of the officers trotted by and the sunlight reflected off the hilt of his sword, catching Twilight's attention. "Would like to... teach me how to use a sword?" she blurted out. Thunderlane cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "I, um... sure. I can't now, I need to go get ready for the next shift. I don't have watch tomorrow morning; we can begin then." "That sounds great! I'll see you then!" Twilight said with a nervous chuckle, then she pivoted on her heels and walked back towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow stared at Twilight with a self satisfied grin. "I hope you're happy," Twilight said, her voice filled with disdain. "That was the most embarrassing thing I've ever done." "I am," she replied. "What did you say?" "I asked him to teach me how to swordfight." Rainbow burst out laughing again and fell to the deck. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Twilight kicked the railing and then picked up her book. "I'm going to my cabin." Rainbow stood up and tried to compose herself. "Wait, Twi, wait. I'm sorry. I really do hope it goes well for you. But still, why swordfighting? Why didn't you just ask him to a private dinner or something?" "I don't know. He's cute and I panicked." She glanced back over at Thunderlane as he laughed at something a blue pegasus mare had said. "Well you didn't seem to freak him out too badly. It'll be fine." "Yeah, I hope so." ~~~~~ "Well that was weird," Thunderlane said to himself as he watched the princess walk away. "What'd she want?" Sapphire Sky asked as she trotted over next to him. "Uh, she wants me to teach her how to use a sword." "Huh. She was awful fidgety to just be asking for lessons." "Yeah, I don't know why." "She likes you." Thunderlane laughed loudly and punched her shoulder playfully. "Good one." She was not amused. "Wait, you're serious? No she doesn't. She's royalty; why would she be interested in me?" "She was just a unicorn a little while ago. Just because she's an alicorn now doesn't mean she lost all her feelings. Besides, I know what a crush looks like. She's acting the same as I did when I first met you," Sapphire said. "Huh." He looked back over at Twilight; she and Rainbow Dash were heading off the bridge. "You really think so?" "You don't get nervous like that to just ask for lessons." "Yeah, I guess not," Thunderlane said slowly, distracted by thought. "Prince Thunderlane, I like the sound of that." Sapphire looked at him with a sneer and scoffed, "What is wrong with you?" "Nothing, I'm just saying," he said, trying to sound innocent. "Hey, do you think I'll get one of those fancy horns when I'm a prince?" Sapphire smacked the back of his head with her wing playfully and started walking away. "C'mon, for now, you're still just a sailor and our watch is about to start." "Alright; let's go." He chuckled and began to follow her off the bridge but was stopped by Shake Spear on the stairs. "Ah, Thunderlane, I've been looking for you. The Captain would like to see you in his cabin." "Alright. I'll head straight there." He turned to Sapphire again and said, "Go ahead; I'll catch up after I see what the captain wants." "Ok, I'll see ya later," she trotted off and Thunderlane followed the lieutenant down the stairs to the mid deck then through the private quarters to the captain's cabin. The room was larger than the other private rooms and had more furnishings. A few paintings, mostly of ships or the sea, lined the walls. One stood out from the others, a portrait of the captain and his wife hanging on front of his bed. Sunlight streamed in from the large windows on the stern side of the room, glinting off the glass bottles filled with miniature ships, arranged neatly on the shelves of a repurposed bookcase. Above the shelves was a rack of Cloud’s specially made swords. There was a desk in the middle, at which sat the captain. He was, as usual, in his uniform, with his hat laying on the table. He looked up from the papers and maps in front of him as Thunderlane trotted in. Thunderlane stopped just inside the doorway and saluted. "Good afternoon sir," he said. "Afternoon," Cloud replied, returning the salute. "At ease." "Thank you sir." He put his hoof down and relaxed a little. The captain stood up and walked around to the front of the table. "As you know, Zealous Sword was killed during our engagement with the griffon ship, leaving us without a second lieutenant. You've been on this ship the longest and have more experience than the other midship ponies here." Cloud picked up a small case from his desk and hoofed it over to him. "Congratulations Lieutenant Thunderlane. These go on your uniform." Thunderlane's breath caught in his throat as he took the case. "Thank you sir," he said after a moment. "I've known you for a long time Thunderlane; you deserve this." Thunderlane smiled as he opened the case and saw the shiny silver bars. "Oh and one more thing," Cloud picked up a bicorn hat from beside his desk and set it on Thunderlane's head. "Befitting of your new station I believe." "Will I still be in charge of the weather team?" Thunderlane asked. "Yes. For now, your duties in regard to the weather team will remain the same. But your other responsibilities will change. During your watch, you will be fully in charge of the ship. You will be in charge of navigation, keeping a log on wind and weather, and assisting Shake Spear and myself with making decisions on the ship. I will send a full list of your new duties to your cabin. If you have any questions, I will be happy to oblige. Once again, congratulations," Cloud stretched out his hoof towards Thunderlane. Thunderlane took his hoof and shook it vigorously. "Thank you," he said again. "Now I do believe that this is your watch," Cloud said with a smile. "Dismissed." "Yes sir." Thunderlane turned and trotted out of the cabin with a new hat, new position, and a massive grin.