//------------------------------// // Shipwrecked // Story: King of the Seas // by Princess OtakuGeek //------------------------------// Rain poured, lightning flashed and thunder crashed as the waves towered as high as buildings. Amongst the clamor, there was a deep crack that could be mistaken for thunder. But if one listened closely, they would know that it wasn't thunder. It was the sound of a ship breaking apart and sinking. Amidst the wreckage of the once great ship a yellow pegasus with a soaking pink mane lept to the surface with a gasp and flailed around for a moment before she found a still floating plank of wood. Instantly she latched onto the wood and hung on for dear life. For a time she bobbed about with the rough waves when a wave towered over her menacingly. The blood drained from her face and she released the plank so she could sink little ways underwater before the wave hit. The pegasus mare's body was tossed around a bit under the water when the wave hit. When she felt slow, she uncurled herself and cracked her eyes open a bit. Despite the sting of seawater in her eyes, they still flew open at the sight before her. A few feet away from her was a white unicorn with a purple mane in an elegant dress. The unicorn mare was struggling and thrashing about in the water but wasn't swimming to the surface a few feet above her. The pegasus realized that the unicorn's dress was dragging her deeper underwater. With aid from her wings, she swam up to the unicorn and began helping her try to pull off the garment. But even with their combined efforts, the dress wouldn't release its prisoner and they were both running out of the air. Just when it was beginning to look hopeless, however, a second pair of hooves grabbed the dress and in a swift movement tore it in half, releasing the unicorn from its confines. The orange and blonde earthpony mare on the other end of those hooves then grabbed the other two and in a couple powerful kicks, propelled them to the surface where she dumped them onto a larger chunk of the ship before pulling herself on. For a time all the three mares did was sit there coughing and vomiting water. "Goodness!" The unicorn gasped. "That was much too close for comfort. Thank you both for saving me." "Don't mention it." The pegasus said softly. "T'wernt nothin'." The earthpony said with a southern twang. They might've said more to each other, but there were more pressing matters. All through the night, they pressed together in the center of their makeshift raft to weather out the storm around them. ============= Fluttershy wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but when she woke up her coat felt crusty and her feathers a little itchy. For a moment she was confused as to why this could be. Then her memories of last night came to her and she instantly began to climb to her hooves... only the stumble and fall back down when pain surged up her hind leg. There was the sound of hooves on wood and the concerned sapphire eyes of the unicorn from last night entered her field of vision. "Oh darling, try not to stand." She said with a refined accent. "Just lay down and relax." "W-what happened?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm afraid you've sprained your hoof very badly. You'll need to stay off of it for a while." As the unicorn spoke, Fluttershy took stock of herself and her surroundings. Aside from herself and the unicorn mare, the only other occupants of the raft were several barrels, a couple trunks and a long piece of the sail from the ship. True to the unicorn's words, Fluttershy saw that her left hind hoof was a little swollen and expertly wrapped in cloth. Before she could begin to wonder where the earthpony mare was, she suddenly surfaced out of the water and with the unicorn's help began pushing a barrel up out of the water before pulling herself up. "That's the last of what I could salvage." She said as she began wringing the water out of her blonde mane. A light blue aura surrounded the newest barrel. "That is quite alright darling." The unicorn said as the placed the barrel with the rest. "You've found more than we thought we would. Hopefully, it will tide us over until we can find land or another ship." "Um... I'm Fluttershy." She introduced herself, drawing the attention of both the unicorn and earthpony. "Ah! Dear me. How incredibly rude of me to not introduce myself." The unicorn gasped in horror as though this were a travesty. "My name is Rarity. A pleasure to make your acquaintance Fluttershy." "Name's Applejack." The earthpony mare said. "Pleased ta meet you too." "Likewise to you both," Fluttershy said with a smile. =========== Through the course of the following days, Applejack and Rarity quickly became good friends to Fluttershy. And over the course of those days, she got to know her two companions. Rarity was an aspiring fashion designer but had yet to gain any recognition beyond her hometown. In fact, that dress she'd been wearing when Fluttershy had spotted her was her newest design. "Oh my. I'm very sorry about your dress." Fluttershy automatically began apologizing. Rarity just waved her off. "Oh think nothing of it, darling." Rarity said. "I'm not shallow that I would value dress I could always make again above my own life. In fact, when I get back home I intend to fix that little design flaw. I can already see it, 'Fashionable and Floatable'. I may need to work on that, but you two get the idea." While Rarity acted in a refined manner, in a situation like this she'd opted for the practical above style. Applejack on the other hoof was more her polar opposite. The orange earthpony had been born and raised on a farm and had lived on it until it fell on hard times that forced her family off the farm. Applejack and her brother then seek employment elsewhere. Applejack had chosen the occupation of a sailor. While admittedly it'd taken time for her to get her sea legs, she was now an expert sailor. "Now don't get me wrong, Ah love the open sea more than Ah thought I would when I first started." The farm pony/sailor said. "The fresh air and wide open horizons for one are enjoyable, but mah Granny always said that 'y'all can take an Apple from the farm, but ya can't take the farm out of the Apple'. Ah still love the feel of the earth beneath mah hooves and nothing is more satisfying than a full day of apple bucking." "I'm sorry that you can't be on your farm," Fluttershy said. Applejack shrugged like it didn't bother her much. "T'aint yer fault so don't apologize fer it." She said. "Besides, at this point, the open ocean feels a bit like a second home. An' what about you?" "Me?" Fluttershy squeaked in surprise. "Indeed." Rarity agreed. "We've all shared about ourselves darling. What about yourself?" The other two mares watched her expectantly. Fluttershy hated being the center of attention and would usually do whatever she could to stay out of the spotlight. But this time was different. She still felt a little nervous, but it wasn't the same crippling fear she usually experienced when all eyes were on her. Looking back on the experience, she guessed that the reason for this was because it was only two ponies and both were already friends. Even so, she gulped before she began speaking. "Um.. well there really isn't much to tell." She started nervously. "I was born and lived in Canterlot for a time before we moved to the country." She didn't mention that the reason for the move was because of bullies, but judging by the tone of voice and the fact that she was glancing away (coupled with their knowledge and experience with Canterlot), she didn't need to tell them. "I-I'm not very good with crowds or other ponies." She continued. "And I'm not very brave." Suddenly her companions began laughing. Fluttershy was bewildered. She wasn't sure she'd said that was so funny, but the most confusing thing was that she didn't feel like curling up and hiding like she normally did when whenever others laughed. "Pfft. Sorry 'Shy." Applejack apologized as he laughter petered out. "It's just, that's the biggest load a' horse apples Ah ever heard." Fluttershy was still confused so Rarity elaborated. "Indeed. After all, not just anypony could save me from sinking down to 'Davey Hooves locker'." Fluttershy blushed and tugged her mane towards her face. "O-o-oh I didn't a-actually d-do much." She stuttered. "I-it was Applejack who saved you." "True. But Ah wouldn't have been able ta if Y'all weren't there." Applejack said and Fluttershy's blush deepened and her mane was now hiding most of her face. Applejack continued regardless. "When Ah came across ya, Ah saw that while you weren't able ta get the dress off, you were slowing her sinkin'. If y'all weren't there, she'd have been too far fer me ta do anythin'. Far as ah'm concerned, Y'all are a bona fide hero." Fluttershy continued to blush, but she'd moved her mane from her face and a tiny smile graced her muzzle. Then it melted as a thought occurred to her. She turned to Applejack with a worried, serious face that melted the other two mare's smiles. "Applejack, we're going to be alright, right?" She asked with concern, bordering on fear and panic. "We'll be able to go home, right? We are going to live.. right?!" At this point, Fluttershy's voice was rising in panic. Applejack gave her a motherly smile and slung a hoof across her back before she could start hyperventilating. "Hey now Sugarcube, let's not lose our heads just yet." She soothed and Fluttershy calmed down a little. "Look here." She as she gestured at the barrels and trunks that she'd hauled out of the wreckage. "What we got here is enough food and water ta sustain us fer a week or two at most. And that's ifn' we don't ration it. Ah also managed ta pick up a few oars. We may not be able ta paddle all the back to Equestria, but when we come across another boat or land, we can at least paddle towards it. If we ration the food and water, then Ah reckon we'll be fine till then." Fluttershy relaxed returned the smile. It wasn't much, but it was hope. Hope that things would get much better. ======= There were very few things that could earn enough of Fluttershy's ire to be hated. Not even her fillyhood bullies were hated as much as this Tartarus forsaken heat. Now under normal circumstances, this kind of weather would be pleasant. The kind of weather that many a mother would urge their child to play in. But under normal circumstances, one would be within the vicinity of a tree, house or any kind of shade. On their little raft there was little to no relief from the heat, save at night where it was so cold they had to huddle together under the sailcloth for warm. And after a week of this, all three mares were willing to brave a second tempest on their little raft if it meant blessed relief. Oh, sweet merciful Faust, its so hot I feel like I'm melting." Rarity gasped dramatically. She was leaning against a barrel like it was a fainting couch and was fanning herself with a hoof. "Ah hear ya Sugarcube." Applejack agreed from where she was sprawled out across the raft. "It's much hotter than the Appaloosan desert in summer." Fluttershy could only nod and mumble agreement. For her, the heat was much more oppressive and everything was beginning to spin and warp. She barely registered her friend's voices at the corner of her hearing. She couldn't hear what they were saying but could tell by their tone that they were concerned. Darkness was pressing in around her as they moved towards her and she swiftly lost consciousness. ======== She wasn't how much time had passed after that. Her head ached, her body felt heavy and she was certain that she was sleeping almost constantly. Whenever she did awake, her friends were nearby taking care of her. This pattern continued for a time, though Fluttershy had no idea for how long when suddenly there was a change. ====== Fluttershy awoke with a sudden start. Judging by the light in the sky, it was late sunset or thereabouts. For a moment she was confused as to what had woken her up. Then she felt the raft jerk a bit. Her friends were jumping as much as they dared and shouting out at the tops of their lungs. Then they stopped jumping and Fluttershy could feel the raft begin moving forward. Then there were more voices. Everything was still a bit murky, but she could still recognize the other two mares alongside unfamiliar voices. As she drifted back to sleep, she felt a pair of strong hooves scoop her up and cradle her gently. Even as she passed out, she knew that this could mean only one thing: they'd been rescued. They were going to be alright. And then she passed out.