//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: The Voyage 
// Story: True Chaos 
// by Woolytop 
//------------------------------//

	The group continued to receive strange looks as Cap'n, Rumble, Moonstruck and her puppets trooped down to the docks.
“Here she is, me pride and joy,” Cap'n said as they arrived to a medium-sized boat. It's bow bore a particularly frightening depiction of Nightmare Moon that seemed to dive out of the wood, wings spread, hooves curved, and sharp teeth barred to devour whatever stood before her. Along the side of the boat was a plaque, engraved with silver that read “R.S.S. Night Shine”. Beyond this, the vessel was unremarkable, although it seemed to have seen better days.
“What does R.S.S stand for?” Rumble asked quietly.
“Royal Sister's Ship,” Moonstruck whispered back. “It looks a little...rough, Cap'n.”
“Ar, ye be swimmin' next ye insult 'er,” he growled.
“Uh...Sorry. Rumble and I have never been on a boat before. What kind of jobs are there?” Moonstruck asked.
“Ye landlubbers... Firs' an' mos' important job is cap'n. I be responsible fer a fair number o' tings ye needn't worry yer head over, an' I be in charge. Since we be runnin' a skeleton crew, second up is navigator. Ye be a talented map-maker, Miss Rose?” Moonstruck made the puppet nod.
“Of course.”
“She be responsible for maintainin' our headin' an' keepin' track o' where we be. Then there's the helmspony. He works wit' the navigator ta steer the ship. Mr. Mainsail looks like he'd be best at that.”
“Aye, sir,” Moonstruck took on a much more masculine voice as she made the relevant puppet stand at attention.
“Then we be needin' a pair o' deckhooves, what do heavy labor like hoistin' the sails an' raisin' anchor. Mr. Aweigh and Mr. Rumble seem ta be best suited for that.”
“Great,” Rumble muttered. Moonstruck made Anchors Aweigh nod.
“Finally, there be look out. Ye'll be takin' that one lass. Yer job's ta sit in the crows nest an' keep an eye out.”
“For what?” Moonstruck asked.
“Anythin' that ain't clear skies an' peaceful waters.”
“Yes, sir,” Moonstruck nodded. This was good. From on top of the mast, she'd be able to manipulate all her puppets with relative ease.
The group filed on board. Cap'n guided everypony to their positions for casting off; Mainsail at the wheel, Moonstruck up in the crows nest, and all other hooves on deck to manage the anchor and the rigging.
“Anchor's aweigh!” Moonstruck had the puppet of the same name shout out. She saw Rumble do a double take between it and her. The Night Shine began to drift away from the dock.
“Hoist the main sail!” Cap'n called out as they cleared the docks. “Miss Rose, the jib!” 
Moonstruck wiggled her control rods as she tried to get the puppets to do all of their jobs while also doing her own, which was to make sure the Shine wasn't about to crash into anything. She smirked; It was a little like a game.
“Ar, excellent work gentlecolts,” Cap'n said as they totally cleared Seaside port. “Mr. Mainsail, our headin's northwest. I be in me quarters.”
Moonstruck leaned over the side of the crows nest as Cap'n disappeared into the Shine's interior. “Rumble! Bring me a compass and a map!” she hissed. Rumble quickly flew the supplies up to her.
“You sure this is a good plan? I mean, you're basically responsible for everything on the boat here,” Rumble pointed out.
“Yeah, it's fine. This is actually kinda fun,” Moonstruck said as she had Mainsail align the boat to the northwest. She looked over the map, which showed the coast for a few hundred miles. She found Seaside in the southeast corner of the map, and checked the direction they'd be heading.
The trip was largely uneventful. Moonstruck had completely missed the archipelago in their path, and almost sailed into it. Mainsail and Compass Rose got chewed out by Cap'n Waters, but Moonstruck took every word he said on herself. As the sun began to set, the sea suddenly became rough, and the wind started to blow wildly. Clouds formed as if from nowhere in the sky, and began to spit various things that weren't water at the boat. Moonstruck could see what looked like a mountain jut up from the horizon. She double checked the map, which showed what should have been open water.
“Cap'n Waters! We've reached the island!” Moonstruck shouted. He burst out of the cabin and shoved Mainsail aside to take the wheel. An ice sculpture of a cloud slammed into the deck and cracked the wood.
“Lower the sails!” Cap'n shouted as Moonstruck guided her puppets to help Rumble. “Git down from thar, lass! Yer a sittin' duck!”
“Incoming waves!” Moonstruck shouted. Waves shot from the island, but not in a circular pattern. The waves were more like missiles of water. With the sail fully down, Cap'n began to ride across them at such an angle that they continued towards the island rather than get pushed away.
“Yar har har har!” Cap'n laughed as more ice sculptures fell from the sky around them. The boat suddenly tilted to the side and very nearly capsized. Moonstruck yanked on her strings to keep the puppets from being flung overboard while she wrapped her legs around the mast. Rumble flew into the air.
“Argh!” he shouted as a barrage of silver whipped out of the waters and slammed into him; More than a gross of silver fish began to batter him out of the air.
“Rumble!” Moonstruck dropped one of her control rods and caught him with her magic. There was a splash as a now totally limp Compass Rose flew into the ocean.
“Yar! Mare overboard!” Cap'n shouted. “Hold her steady lads!” a particularly large wave tossed the Shine into the air. A rapid thud echoed through the air as more fish assaulted the keel. There was a huge splash as they landed. The clouds still blotted out the sky, but everything else had stopped.
“Is it over?” Rumble shouted.
“Not yet, lad!” Cap'n shouted as he ran to the bow. The island had released one final wave, in a huge circle around it. There was no way to avoid it. Cap'n Waters smirked. “Drop anchor!” he shouted.
Moonstruck had Anchors Aweigh buck the anchor into the water. “Hold tight, fillies!” Cap'n roared as he braced himself.
The wave slammed into the Shine and tilted her over backwards. Moonstruck lost her grip on the other two marionettes as the mast slammed into the water. There was a great crack as it broke off the ship. Moonstruck's eyes widened as she saw herself get sucked away from the Shine.
She let out a loud GLUG, and slammed her hooves together.

The waters sat calmly for a few moments. Suddenly, Nightmare Moon burst forth from the surface, followed by the ship. A bubble of strawberry pink magic was around it.
Moonstruck, still in her pony form, floated where the mast would have been.
“Yar, what in Nightmare's...” Cap'n sputtered.
“Sorry, Cap'n. I'm afraid I haven't quite been honest with you.” Moonstruck said. She nabbed her right hoof in her mouth and yanked it free to reveal her hand, which she flexed. She rolled her left foreleg down to reveal her claw, then proceeded to peel her hind legs off like a pair of pants. She pulled on her horn like a slot machine arm, which sent her eyes spinning until they stopped in their natural state and her fang erupted from her lip. Finally, she peeled off the symmetrical black stripes like a sticker as her wings erupted from where it had been. She stood up and smiled as she looked ahead at the island.
From the clouds, a hurricane formed and touched down as they continued to drift towards the island. Moonstruck snapped her fingers as the Shine got lifted into the air like a loose scrap of paper and sucked into the vortex. With another snap, the jib sail went up and they were launched like a cannonball from the storm. The ship flew through the air and landed with a great splash, perfectly docked at a pier on the beach. Ropes that moved on their own flew out and fastened the Shine in place.
Cap'n's jaw hit the deck. He shifted his eye patch so he could see out of his good eye. Moonstruck laid down and propped herself up on her elbows.
“I'm a draconequus,” she answered before he could ask as she poked the very tip of his nose. “This island is where my kind used to live.”
“Alright, now what, Moon?” Rumble asked.
“Well, I was told I only needed to visit, but we went through an awful lot of trouble just to get here. Might as well check it out, right?” Moonstruck reasoned.
“Yar, hold on,” Cap'n Waters said, “what of Miss Rose, and the rest of the crew?”
“Oh, those were just puppets,” Moonstruck said. “Clay ponies I was controlling from the crow's nest.”
Cap'n fell on his haunches, as his ears drooped down flat against his head. He began to mutter incomprehensibly.
“I should stay here with him,” Rumble said.
“Good idea.” Moonstruck agreed. “I don't know how long I'm gonna be. See you in a bit.” She fluttered off the bow and landed on the island's beach.