Secrets of the Everfree

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 15: Ponynapped

“Thanks for holding me back,” Torch panted, nudging me back to my senses. “That would have been an idiot thing to do. Even I don’t stand a chance against unicorn magic. Now, come on. Let’s go!”
“Where?”
“I’m not sure where he’s taking her. We’ll just have to be quiet about following him. Now let’s go get our friend back.”
We slunk along the beach, but it didn’t take long before we came upon Mark’s ship, a small vessel with the name Rogue printed in neat script along the side. How fitting, I thought to myself. It wasn’t until Mark had disappeared to the helm of his ship that we glided aboard. Torch pressed close to a cluster of barrels at one end while I tried to blend with a tangle of nets opposite him. It was dark, so this wasn’t too hard. I was more concerned about keeping my balance. It was a slippery deck, and I still hadn’t found my sea legs.
“Oh, don’t look so glum, Current dear,” Water Mark rasped. I perked up to eavesdrop. When I craned my neck, I could see her tied to the helm railing, though the cloth bag over her head had been removed. “I’m going to make you famous! You should be thanking me! After all, that’s all my father ever wanted for you. And how did you repay him? You sank his ship,” he pressed close to her face, hissing in a voice like venom. “I’d say this is a very unfair sentence, wouldn’t you? Unfair to my father. He’s dead because of you, but you get off merrily singing your life away. If I had it my way, you’d have joined him by now. But this is what he wanted. Now at least I know I’ve carried out his last wishes.”
Sorrowful weeping was the only response he received. “Come, now. If that’s the only sound you’ll make, you’ll scare the customers away. Why don’t you try a real song? A bit of practice never hurt anypony. And to be honest, I’d like to hear what you can do. My father used to brag about your talent. I’m quite eager to see what he could have possibly seen in a witch like you. Oh, and don’t try anything funny. I’ve spent the past fifteen years perfecting a spell that will make me immune to your charms. Go on,” he prompted. Still, she was uncontrollably sobbing. Even though it was dark, I could tell his face turned a few more shades of red. “SING!” he manically demanded, pounding his hooves into the deck beside her. She flinched so violently she almost fell over. In her terror, she didn’t know any better than to obey.

“Bah! That’s no good! You must change the ending,” Mark groaned. “It’s so depressing. Nopony will want to listen. Why don’t you think up something happier? Go on. You sirens are supposed to be good at thinking on your hooves. Make me a peppy song, Current dear.”
Just then, a particularly choppy wave knocked us all off balance. Unfortunately, this sent Torchwood careening into the barrels, causing an obnoxious racket. Even Water Mark must know a wave couldn’t raise such a clamor.
“Hello?” he called, using his horn as a searchlight once more. “Who’s there? Show yourself!” He moved a few paces down the helm stairway to search the lower deck. Torchwood could have kept hidden if he’d wanted to. Mark was about to pass him up, in fact, since his coat was the same shade as the wood of the boat. However, Torch decided that now was as good a time as ever to rescue Current, and lunged at the unicorn’s hooves. Mark was sent sprawling onto the deck, horn flickering out like a light. Torch pounced him in an instant.
“Get Current!” he shouted to me, taking another punch from Mark. I scrambled to the helm, where Current was shocked to see me.
“What are you doing?” she gasped, obviously terrified.
“Saving your tail!” I retorted, gripping the rope in my teeth and tugging with all my might. These were sailor knots, and wouldn’t come undone so easily. Okay. Time for Plan B.
With a few powerful flaps of my wings, I was hovering above the ship. Here, I tried to spark even a small flame on the tip of my hoof, the only surface that didn’t seem to be wet. What little moisture there was evaporated momentarily, and I proudly coaxed the flame into existence. I bent over to touch it to the rope, lighting it like wicker. Current screamed at first, thinking that I’d set her on fire. But this was magical thestral fire. It wouldn’t burn her unless I told it to. Rather, I ordered it to melt through the rope. Once she realized that she was free, our eyes locked for a moment. Now, she wasn’t sure what to make of me. Friend or foe? I wasn’t all that sure about her, either.
We were interrupted when Torchwood’s form was hurled into mine, slamming us both against the wall. The wind had nearly been knocked out of us, but I managed to look over in time to see Current scrambling away. She had just a another yard to the railing, and then she was free.
“Oh, no,” Water Mark snarled. “I’ve waited too long to let you go now!” A small streak of fire from Torchwood distracted him long enough for me to get to my hooves. Then I reared, bringing a crushing blow down onto the deck. This thestral trick was originally used in quarries to break off large stones, and the feeble wood of his boat stood no chance against it. The floor splintered, and the whole boat trembled. A loud splash told me that Current was gone. I understood her fear, but now we were left to fight her battle.
“NO!” Mark wailed, realizing a lifetime of work had just gone to waste. His wrath turned onto us in an instant.
“Fly!” I cried, springing up into the air.
“I don’t think so,” he growled, catching me and Torchwood both in levitation bubbles. I furiously kicked, but I wasn’t going anywhere until Mark said so. “If you’re such good friends with the hippocampi, why don’t you join them?” Torch was the first to be hurled into the raging sea, and I followed just a moment after.
I tried twisting around so I could pull up the instant I was freed from his telekinetic grasp, but I was flung with such force that this seemed impossible. I hit the icy water to hard it didn’t feel like water so much as hard rock, but I still started sinking. Luckily for me, there was a stray plank from the wreckage that was floating, so I grabbed on and clung for life.
“TORCH?!” I screamed. I couldn’t see or hear him. I looked wistfully down at the plank, praying that he was okay. I was a very poor swimmer- it was a miracle this plank had been so close, but I doubted he’d been so lucky. Wait, where had this come from? I didn’t remember any wreckage before now. I just had to look up for the answers I sought.
It seemed that between my pounding and Torch’s fire, we’d accomplished something, because the flaming boat was finally going under. The Rogue was sinking, and Water Mark was going down with it. Now that he was alone, his eyes were wide with terror, realizing the weight of the situation.
“No. NO! SOMEPONY HELP ME!” he cried to the air. I couldn’t if I’d wanted to. My wings were so heavy that it would be a struggle to lift myself out of the water, let alone a passenger. And besides, I was far more concerned about Torchwood.
“He’s hit his head. You must hold him,” a voice demanded. I whirled into the face of unconscious Torchwood.
“TORCH!” I screeched, trying to float him on the plank while keeping both our heads above water. I barely had time to turn back and see a neon blue mane whisking back under the waves. “Current?” I watched in dumbfounded amazement when the brave mare returned to the wreckage and dragged her former captor clear. I think he was too crazed from panic to realize what was going on at this point. He kept thrashing and mumbling to himself, pupils still tiny pinpricks of fear. Despite this, Current towed him back to us with her usual, ever-blank expression.
“You came back,” I panted.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because even after all those awful things I said, you still came back for me. You both forgave me for what I did. I suppose I must finally let go of the past to do the same,” she gestured to the crazed pony before us, “even if it means sparing this lunatic.” I almost laughed. A groan tore our attention away.
“Torch?” I gently whispered, nudging him back to conciousness. The cold waves lightly slapping his hide were what finally woke him up.
“What happened?” he grunted. Looking up into the face of Water Mark almost made him jerk back off the plank. Then, upon remembering who he was and what he’d done, he tried to scramble over and continue the fight where they left off. I restrained him, and Current pulled Mark a little farther away.
“It’s okay,” I assured, settling him back down. “I don’t think he’s going to be causing any more trouble for a while.”
“I thank you for what you have done for me,” Current said, bowing her head. “I can take Water Mark to shore, but I suggest you fly.”
“We can’t,” I cringed. “The water makes our wings too heavy.”
“Then I will deliver all of you,” she promised, “but I cannot do so with this maniac flailing about.” So Torch and I took Mark and fought to settle him between us on the plank, much to our displeasure. Finally, he quieted down, clinging to the wood like a frightened foal. Current then left us momentarily, but even through the dark water I could see the shadow of her form zipping to and fro beneath us. Her movements eventually accumulated into a gentle current that lazily carried us to shore. All of us except Current were shivering by the time we finally got back to dry land. Mark had fled from the hippocampus the second his hooves touched the sand, finally acknowledging that he was outnumbered. Torch and I, on the other hoof, lingered a moment longer.
We walked a ways out onto dry sand before we each sparked up a small flame, enough to dry ourselves off. Current waited patiently further down on the shore, letting the waves lap at her tail. Only when I was dry and warm did I return to the mare.
“Thank you,” I began. “You saved our lives.”
“On the contrary. It is you who saved me. I should be thanking you.”
“If I may ask...” I started to form a question, but I couldn’t seem to put the rest into words. Unbelievably, she almost laughed at my hesitation.
“You just saved me from being displayed as a circus act. I should think that would give you licence to ask almost anything.”
“What really happened with Buoy Mark?” Her face fell, not in the dark and hateful manner that I remembered, but in a sad recollection of memories.
“I was a niave filly,” she finally sighed. Her eyes shone in the moonlight as she looked up at the giant white orb as though it contained the entirety of her past. “My mother wanted more than anything for me to follow in her hoofsteps. She wanted me to be a siren just like her. I was more than willing to at least try, if that made her happy. I devoted my life to the music, and I became quite good at it, but I never earned my mark.” She fondly ran a hoof over the alternative symbol now stamped on her side. “My mother’s reputation and my hard-earned talent landed me a position as a siren watchpony. I was a young adult, but still a blank flank. The other mares would torment me to no end, especially the other sirens. They would tell me I didn’t belong, and in truth I didn’t, but I learned to ignore them. At that point in my life, I was content where I was.
“It was my first night on watch, and I spotted a ship coming a little too close to our settlement. It was my job to lure them off with a song. That I did, and it worked perfectly. The effect of the music left most of the crew asleep, but some had jumped overboard in an attempt to hear more. From there, another team of hippocampi drag the crew back to safety, and return the boat to the harbor so nopony is hurt. I was helping to undo the damage I caused, and brought one of the sailors to a secluded beach on the coast. This very one, in fact.” She paused and fondly glanced over the soft outline of the cove.
“I got worried when he didn’t wake right away, and stayed a while to watch. As I waited, I began to think dangerous thoughts: this colt probably had a family to return to, just like me. What if he didn’t wake up? What if I’d killed him? It didn’t take me long to realize that we weren’t so different as I’d been led to believe. This truth led to a fixation with life on the surface, so when he finally did wake, I couldn’t resist introducing myself.
“He was just as fascinated by me as I was him, and we got along fine at first. We’d meet every night here on the coast, teaching each other about our worlds. I didn’t realize at first that I’d fallen in love, but that I did. It was crazy; I was a hippocampus, and he was a unicorn. I couldn’t understand why we had to remain apart. Like you, Acrylic, I dreamed of uniting our kind so I would be free to carry on with Buoy. But that would never happen.
“One night, he came and said that he had something to show me. He said that it was on the land, but he could smuggle me over in his wagon. We’d only been seeing each other for a short while, and I was estatic. I didn’t even question him, and just hopped right in. He parked the wagon just outside his house when somepony else came out to talk to him. I kept hidden in the back, of course, but I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. They seemed to be arguing about money, or rather, the lack of it. But that wasn’t the issue. It was his wife yelling at him!” She shook her head, withholding fresh tears.
“He never told me he was married, and I felt so betrayed! I crept out of his wagon and hid in some shrubs, hoping to wait until the streets were clear to make my escape. I wept as he kept trying to assure his girl that he had a plan to get them out of debt. He wanted to show me off to Equestria, becoming rich off of the admission of my performances. She didn’t believe him, but I knew I had to get out of there before he realized I was gone. I ran desperately around the city, trying to find my way back to the sea. I spent most of the night in dark alleys, fleeing his very hoofsteps. It wasn’t until dawn that I finally made it back to the sea. I never came back to the surface, and I vowed never to sing again. That was what had caused all my trouble, after all.
“I spent day after day alone in my home, mourning the loss of my ‘lover.’ This must have caused suspicion amongst my neighbors, because it wasn’t long before rumors began flying. Perhaps I was seen on the beach with Buoy on occasion, because they all seemed to know what I’d been up to. When the King caught wind of it, he was enraged. I’m not sure whether he was trying to ensure that we remained hidden or just to teach me a lesson, but the next time The Unbridled set sail on his waters, he caused a storm feriocious enough to sink her, but they all thought I did it. There were no survivors. Even so, I sifted through the wreckage for days in hopes of finding something, anything. I taught myself how to manipulate the water to get the job done more quickly, which was how I finally earned my cutie mark.
“Letting go was the hardest thing I ever did. The only way I knew how to do that was to shut everything, and everypony else out. I spent the rest of my life trying to make sure nopony repeated my same mistake.”
“Is that why you took to Kelpie?” I asked. Despite her cold outward appearance, I sensed a motherly attachment between the two.
“It is,” she admitted. “Kelpie reminds me of myself when I was her age. I just want her to be safe. I hope you are satisfied with your answer?”
“I think we can call this even,” Torch gratefully nodded.
“We are not finished yet. I was too quick to judge you, Acrylic and Torchwood. For that I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”
“I already have,” I winked. She also recieved a nod from Torchwood to let her know the feeling was mutual.
“Despite what I said before, I do hope you come back to see us. We may not be ready to reveal ourselves to all of Equestria, but I think that for you, we can make an exception.” For the first time since I’d met her, Current displayed a genuinely warm smile, making her appear even more beautiful.
“It would be an honor.”
“Then perhaps I shall see you tomorrow at the lagoon?”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

When Torch and I stumbled bleary-eyed back into the hotel lobby, Water Mark was waiting for us. I noticed a suspiciously familiar stack of luggage sitting beside him. Upon spotting us, he practically leapt out of the armchair, obviously still on edge.
“I want you out of my hotel,” he ordered.
“What? Just like that?”
“You ruined my life’s work! I never want to see either of your faces around here ever again!”
“If kidnapping an innocent mare was your life’s work, then it was already a waste of time,” Torch snapped back.
“She drowned my father! Life as a showpony would have been merciful punishment!”
“Current loved your father. She’d never have hurt him. It was the hippocampus king who sunk The Unbridled.”
“Their... king?” he seemed to go pale, realizing his mistake.
“Turning Current’s life into a road show won’t fix things,” I went on. “It won’t bring your father back.”
“But... that’s what he wanted. I was just carrying out his legacy. Now I don’t know what to do.”
“Water Mark, you’ve done good things in your father’s name, along with the bad. Just look at this hotel. You founded it in his name, didn’t you? This is his legacy.”
“Come on, Acrylic. Let’s go.” Torch took hold of one suitcase, and I took the other. “We aren’t welcome here anymore.” I expected Water Mark to look defiantly after us, but in his shame, he couldn’t seem to decide whether it was best to look at the floor or us, and so his eyes ended up just darting around. I almost felt bad for the pitiful creature. After all, he thought he’d been doing the right thing by carrying out his father’s last wish. I couldn’t imagine life without either of my parents. If I had been left alone, would I have ended up as crazy and misdirected as Water Mark? Is that how Garble or Blaze would end up now that their birth parents were gone? I shuddered at the thought, and tried to focus solely on the here and now by following after Torchwood.
“Where do we go now?” I asked.
“You know, I’m not really sure,” he admitted. “No place is open at this time of night. It must be two in the morning. Even the motel doesn’t have anypony working this late.”
“Well, I know of one place where we’re still welcome.”
“Where’s that?” he looked genuinely puzzled. I smiled to try and get him to work it out on his own. “You don’t mean...”
“I do.”
“Out in the open? On our honeymoon?”
“Oh, come on, Torch. We’re thestrals, born and raised in the Everfree! You don’t mind spending one more night out in the Great Outdoors, do you?”
“Of course not. I suppose I just envisioned a more romantic honeymoon than this.”
“That makes two of us,” I laughed. “But if it makes you feel better, we packed our own blankets and pillows in the luggage. We won’t have to curl up in a pile of leaves and moss.”
“It is a little comforting,” he joked. Though it was late, I found a new energy, and used the ocean’s thermals to carry me to the island of the hippocampi lagoon. We lighted down beside the pool, where we deposited the luggage, and unpacked the quilt and pillows. Neatly piling the suitcases on the side, we set up a temporary camp beneath one of the trees. Our friends would sure be in for a surprise when they found us here!

“Hello? Are you alright?”
“What are they doing out here so early?”
“And what’s all this stuff?” The sound of a zipper implied that somepony was probably sifting through the suitcases.
“Acrylic? Torchwood?” I groaned before groggily rubbing my eyes. I was met with the wet nose of Kelpie’s sea lion pup. He licked my cheek a couple times before I managed to nudge him away. With a clear view, I could now see four more ponies inquisitively looking down at us: Whirlpool, Cascade, High Tide and Kelpie. Upon looking around, I spotted Jet Stream searching the trinkets in the luggage as predicted.
“What are you doing out here?”
“Did you... spend the night outside?”
“The greater part of it,” I yawned. “We aren’t exactly welcome at The Unbridled Inn anymore. There was nowhere else to go... I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh, you poor dears! Spending the night out here on your honeymoon!” Cascade dramatically wailed. Her cries caused Torchwood to start rousing beside me.
“Current told us what happened,” Kelpie spoke.
“How is she?” I asked.
“It’s so odd,” High Tide grinned. “I expected her to get real upset, or try to forget about it, but... well... just look for yourself.” She pointed to the pool behind me, so I turned. On Cascade’s usual perch in the middle of the lagoon sat Current, fiddling with an exotic white flower bloom and humming pleasantly to herself.

She found her own verse incredibly amusing, and fell into a fit of childish giggling.
“She’s been like that all morning,” Whirlpool whispered, failing to conceal her own laughter. Torch chuckled beside me.
“That’s certaintly an interesting way to wake up.”
“Good morning,” I greeted with a light kiss.
“Oh, good! You’re awake!” Current exclaimed, slithering out of the pool to join us. “I must admit, I had an ulterior motive when I asked the both of you back. I felt so bad about ruining your books. I’m afraid I cannot replace them, but I hope this comes close.” She pulled out a book of her own, this one made from thin wooden planks bound together with seaweed, the words etched lightly into the wood. It looked like a history book on hippocampi as a nation.
“Current, I... I don’t know what to say! This is better than any book we could’ve gotten up on the surface! Thank you!” Her whole disposition radiated with pleasure.
“But again, keep it to yourself?” Tide prompted, astonished that Current would just give away information just like that.
“It’ll be our little secret,” Torch promised. She nodded approval, and let the subject drop.
“If you were kicked out of the hotel, where are you going to stay tonight?” Kelpie asked, concern peeking through in her voice.
“I’m sure we’ll find someplace,” my husband assured. I nodded.
“There must be one hotel we can get into.”
“But it’s tourist season. They’re usually pretty full around now.” The others looked to the green mare in astonishment on her already extensive knowledge of the land world. “What? I just noticed that it always seems pretty busy this time of year.”
“It is. And that’s the problem.”
“We might not be able to find another hotel that can take us,” I explained.
“We may have to go home.”
“So this might be the last time we see you?”
“But you still have another four days of your honeymoon! You can’t just cut it short!” Cascade exclaimed. “No, this won’t do.”
“It’s okay,” I assured.
“We talked about it last night,” Torch said, “and we decided that even if this is our last day here, it was the best honeymoon a couple could ever hope for.”
“Thanks to you all,” I added.
“Aww!” Jet cooed with a giant smile plastered on her face.
“We’ll all miss you so much!” Kelpie sniffed, moving in to give us a goodbye hug.
“There was so much more we could have learned,” Tide agreed, giving Torch a rough yet fond pat on the back.
“You’re all acting as if they really have to go,” Current cheerily sighed. “We’re all assuming they won’t be able to find someplace.”
“Current’s right. We might be able to stay. I’m just trying to be realistic.”
“I’m saying that you can stay, because we have a place for you.”
“We do?” Whirlpool looked baffled.
“Of course we do! Don’t you remember that cove you girls used to play at before we came inland?”
“That was years ago!” Whirlpool exclaimed, seeming to recall such a place.
“Oh Current, you’re absolutely brilliant!” Cascade squealed. “You could stay there and not have to pay for a hotel! We’d be nearby, and you could still visit the mainland as you please! It’s only a flight away for you, after all.”
“Oh, please say you’ll stay!” Kelpie begged. I turned to Torchwood.
“What do you think?”
“I think we should do it,” he smiled. I wasn’t about to argue.

It was a beautiful cove, redecorated just for us. I wasn’t sure when Whirlpool and Cascade had slipped off to get it ready, but that they did. This exotic paradise couldn’t compare to that dusty old hotel room. Palm trees lined the beach, dancing gently in time to the salty ocean breeze. A small cluster of these were off to the side, between which two hammocks had been strung. Flower petals littered the beach, some of which may have been blown by the wind, but most of them I assumed had been deliberately placed. A washed up log on the sand would serve as an adequate bench for us to watch the sunset together.
“Well?” Current prompted.
“It’s perfect,” Torch hummed, fondly nuzzling me.
“Thank you so much!”
“Come on, girls. Let’s let the two love birds settle in,” Cascade merrily sang. They all slithered happily off back to the water, waving before heading to their own homes. Torch and I waved back, left to the company of one another. So maybe our honeymoon hadn’t gone exactly as planned. It was still perfect. I wouldn’t have it any other way.