//------------------------------// // The Port Fort // Story: From the Ashes: Ember's Story // by Zoljen //------------------------------// Ember stared at the imposing wall of wooden logs before her. It was a distance from where she stood, but the deep green unicorn just stared at it. A village she said? This looked like a fort. The towers at the corners had unicorns standing vigilant in them. A gate stood before her, closed, with its own guard above it on the wall. She sat down and continued to gaze at the wall, wondering exactly what she was going to say when - “You there! Unicorn! State your business,” an earth pony shouted from above the gate, the unicorns in the towers turning towards her with bows held in a magical grasp aimed at her. She squeaked and flattened her ears, looking up at him. “Uh… Passage to Equestria, if possible,” she squeaked out. “And why would some random unicorn want passage there? We aren't a ferry service.” “I’ll work. I’ll do whatever you ask me to do.” Ember stood up a little, looking up. “And what can you do, huh?” The pony glared at down at her. Ember kept her ears flat as she gulped. “I can cook, and I am skilled in the medical field.” Ember nodded and stood somewhat proud. The unicorn turned away and seemed to whisper with a few others out of her view. Ember let out a soft sigh. She was detecting a lot of suspicion from up there and it was making her feel uneasy. She glanced up again and saw they were still talking. Maybe I'm better off going the long way around. She thought to herself, there was no way they’d let her onto a ship that was headed to Equestria. She turned and took a step back towards the forest when she heard the gate slowly start to open. She glanced to it and saw each door enveloped in magic. Standing in the doorway was a stallion, his blond fur hidden under royal guard armor as he glared at Ember, making her shrink back slightly. “You won't be cooking any meals on the ship, but we can spare one place for a pony. Instead, you’re on cleaning detail.” He gestured inside. “The ship is ready to depart in the next few hours, make sure your onboard when it does or we’ll gladly kick you back out.” He turned and went back into the fort, vanishing from view. Ember gulped and nodded, moving in quickly. The doors were closed as a unicorn came up to her. “We need to inspect those bags.” The unicorn gestured towards her saddlebags. Ember nodded and floated them off her back to land in front of her. The unicorn pulled out each item and looked them over, the rations were kept off to one side, but the statue was put back in along with the small map she was given. After the bags were emptied and refilled, they were levitated back to her. She put them on her back and glanced around. Inside was a simple set up, a bunkhouse where the occasional guard came out. Each one was dressed in the royal gold armor from Canterlot, and almost seemed to glare at her as she started to walk towards the only ship in port. The ship was huge, it seemed to dwarf the fort she was in. It's long white haul had seen it's share of combat, scorch marks ran along its frame and it had multiple dents and scratches. A few pegasi floated above it, working on its mast and tying it's huge sail down. Ember sat and stared at the ship that was larger than her own hive. “She’s a beaut, ain't she?” The stallion's voice knocked her out of her stupor. She quickly glanced to her side to see what she assumed was the captain of the ship standing beside her. He wore a gold uniform with black edges along it that covered his fore legs. He had a small saber at his side and wore a casual smirk. Ember quickly turned and gave a weak salute. “I assume you are the captain of this vessel?” “Yes, I’m Captain Gold Star, and I assume you are the stray that is asking for passage to Equestria?” The stallion asked as he looked her over. Ember nodded quickly as he let out a small chuckle. “Hopefully you have your sea legs.” He points towards the ship. “My first mate can help you find where you're staying. Hope you don't mind bunking with stallions.” Ember grinned faintly. “No sir, I don't mind.” She glanced to her saddlebag. “And I am prepared whenever, before you ask. Who is your first mate?” “That would be me.” The sudden calm voice made Ember squeak and turn around quickly to face it. She came face to face with a blue unicorn who had a simple straight cut black mane and wore only a flat expression with a faintly raised eyebrow. He wore a similar uniform to the other stallion, only the gold was replaced with blue. She blinked and quickly scanned him. He was calm, collected, and barely showed any emotion whatsoever. “Ah, Clear Theorem. Would you be so kind as to show her where she’ll be staying for our trip back to Manehattan?” Gold Star grinned widely. “Yes sir, but she appears injured. She should check in with the doctor first.” The unicorn gestured to the bandages that were clearly visible along her chest. Gold Star nodded and gestured towards the ship, Clear Theorem turned and started toward it, Ember quickly trotting up to his side. “What in Tartarus did you get dragged through?!” the blue earth pony with a salt and pepper mane asked as he looked over Ember. He hadn't even removed the bandages yet and he could tell just how wounded she was. She grinned sheepishly as he started to remove the bandages on her arms. “You probably wouldn't believe me.” “Try me,” he grumbled and looked up at her, then back to the bandages, “because these wounds were by claws, large claws I’d say.” He poked at one, making her hiss softly. “Did you even run disinfectant through it? I was told you were an expert on medical stuff, but this looks amateurish at best.” “I rinsed it out! But no, I didn't have any of that stuff. Was kind of running for my life from a drake, ok?” She huffed, puffing her cheeks out and turning away to glare elsewhere. “Fine, but this is going to sting, a lot.” He said calmly as he grabbed the disinfectant and started to dab at the claw wounds on her arms. She let out a few hisses of pain but kept calm, tensing a little. “Hmm, you're used to being hurt, aren't you?” “I used to live with someone who would drag me along and we’d both be hurt after each little adventure.” She hissed out. “And, you're not going to like the wound on my chest. Will leave a scar I bet.” “Ha, I am used to seeing blood, comes with being a doctor.” He covered up her wounds on the arm with new bandages and looked to her chest. “And I can already tell it's big. What gave it to you?” “A drake, I let it grab me so I could send a shock through its nervous system. It twitched and clawed me afterwards.” “Well yeah, drake claws are sharper than diamonds! What were you thinking?” He grumped and poked at her barrel, earning a wince and hiss in return. “I was trying to get it away from a village, okay? It's a long and complicated story and I don't want to bore you with the details! Just tend to the cuts already so I can earn my fare for getting to Equestria.” The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Fine,” he snorted. “Your staying in here anyway for your trip. Not going to let you bunk with the stallions since they could rough you up, and I didn't catch your name.” “Em… Emerald Haze,” she said softly. “And, thanks.” “For what? Tending to you even if you aren't a part of the crew? I could at least use an assistant while you're in here. That should be more than sufficient to get your fare to Equestria.” He started to remove the bandages on her barrel, making her wince. About halfway through, he stopped and looked up to her. “Why don't you finish unrolling this?” Ember nodded and let her magic flow along the bandages, slowly lifting them off and wrapping them back up. The doctor looked at the wound and winced hard, it still looked fresh and deep. It had thankfully stopped bleeding, but looked like it could start back up any time. He glanced back to Clear Theorem, who had been silent this whole time. “Yeah, she’s staying in here. You can tell Gold Star to shove it if he objects,” he turned back to the wound and grabbed the disinfectant again. “This is really going to sting.” Clear Theorem simply nodded, “Yes, Dr. McCoy.” He left after that as McCoy went back to tending the deep wound. Ember seemed to be ignoring the pain and only winced when direct pressure was applied.