//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Lost Spark // by SkyFlare //------------------------------// Spark awakened early the next morning to see Star Swirl gazing intently out the single window in their room. Spark could see the old unicorn’s eyes moving frantically as if he were watching something. Almost as if he knew that Spark had woken up, Star Swirl turned around and looked at him. “We need to leave.” Star Swirl stated, using his magic to tie his cape on and set his hat on his head. “What’s going on?” Spark asked groggily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up on the bed. “Every time that I use my magic, it sends out a resonance that the Constellar ponies can feel. They are just outside the inn right now, meaning that we can’t afford to be here.” Star Swirl explained, cracking the window open slightly and throwing something outside. Spark could hear several shouts and a couple of screams from the ground below. He considered looking out to see just what Star Swirl had done, but he knew that they were close to being caught so they needed to move quickly and he couldn’t afford to waste time by investigating at the moment. It would have been easier to ask Star Swirl about it once they were a safe distance away. There was nopony waiting outside the room, meaning whatever Star Swirl had thrown out the window had distracted the Constellar ponies from their hunt for the duo. As they reached the ground floor, they saw the mare who they had spoken to the previous night hiding behind the counter. Spark suspected that she feared for herself and her foal while the Constellar ponies were around, which to his understanding, was very understandable. He had a hard time believing that they would stop at anything to kill him, after all, he was exactly what they hated apparently, an earth pony. As the pair went outside, they were greeted by a large cloud of black smoke. Spark saw Star Swirl wrap his face in his cloak to keep him from breathing in the cloud. As Spark had nothing to mimic that action with, he simply held his breath and quickly followed after the old unicorn. Even though neither of them had to fear choking on the smoke, there was still the highly limited visibility that it created, which was both a curse and a blessing. Despite the fact that they couldn’t see much of anything, neither could the Constellar ponies. Once they escaped the cloud, they looked around to see if they were followed. Star Swirl smiled upon seeing that they had escaped without having been seen. The pair made their way down to the harbor, leaving behind the chaos that they had created in their escape. They galloped down the back alleys of the city in an attempt to remain undetected while still making good time. Star Swirl was determined that the Constellar ponies had come from the farther inland, meaning that the safest path for them was to board a ship and move up the coast. Spark protested valiantly, but was assured that they would move faster that way and would have a better chance of catching up with Sonnet, and possibly even heading off her captors. It was also too dangerous to travel in such a foreign place on one’s own. Spark’s little trek through the White Tail Woods had proven that to him. Once they reached the edge of the land, a vast blue ocean was strewn out before them. The sound of the waves crashing into the shore was something new to Spark, soothing, but at the same time, it made him feel overcome with sadness. It was always a dream of Sonnet’s to get to see the ocean, and now he was seeing it without her. “We’ll find her.” Star Swirl stated, dragging Spark onto a nearby ship that was docked on the harbor. Spark nodded, knowing that both he and Star Swirl were in positions where they would need one another. He couldn’t afford to leave Star Swirl in hopes of finding Sonnet, he’d already seen how something like that would turn out, after all, Star Swirl had beaten him to Seaddle. But at the same time, it wouldn’t be safe for a pony Star Swirl’s age to be wandering about on his own, especially not with the Constellar ponies being able to track him every time that he used his magic. Star Swirl stopped, just before leaving the shadows between the buildings. He removed his cloak and threw it over top of Spark. There was no reason for Spark to inquire about Star Swirl’s action; he already knew that the cape was to cover his back. He could easily fake being a pegasus, so long as nopony asked him to fly. A single pegasus stood guard at the dock in front of a decent sized ship. It didn’t occur to Spark until they were only a couple of meters away from the pegasus that they had no way to board the ship. It could require tickets, or payments, or it might only be available to ponies who were working on that particular ship. He could only hope that Star Swirl had a plan. “Could we gain passage on this ship?” Star Swirl asked. Some plan. Spark sighed, holding back his critical evaluation of Star Swirl’s attempt to get on the ship. “I ain’t allowin’ no freeloaders on mah ship.” the pegasus replied, shaking his head. His voice was a bit raspy and fairly deep. His accent was very thick as well, making it slightly challenging for Spark to understand him, however, Star Swirl seemed to have no problem. It made sense to Spark, Star Swirl had done some traveling before meeting Spark, so this accent might not have been so foreign to him. “Your ship? Am I to presume that you are the captain of this vessel?” Star Swirl asked. “And proud of it.” the pony smiled smugly. “Forget it. He won’t let us onboard.” Spark said quietly. The captain stared at Spark for a few seconds without blinking. As the time passed, his eyes widened as if he was having an idea. Finally he spoke, “An earth pony? How in Tartarus’re you alive?” “I- I’m no earth pony.” Spark stuttered back, fearing that the captain would give him up to the Constellar ponies. “Well ain’t that a shame. I woulda given ya a ride if ya were, just ta spite them bastards.” the captain sighed, shaking his head solemnly. “Are ya sure that you ain’t just hiding it with that there cape?” The captain spread his wings and flew above Spark, giving his wings a hard flap and knocking the cloak off of the earth pony. “Welcome aboard.” Star Swirl smiled, realizing that they weren’t alone in fighting against the Constellar ponies. “You know, I was beginning to fear that everypony had given up hope and become submissive to the Constellar ponies.” “Not ever’pony.” the captain replied. “Mah name’s Cap’n Hoofwind and Ah’ll getcha outa here, no prob’em.” “Thank you, Captain.” Star Swirl said with a nod, following Hoofwind as the led the pair onto his ship. As they walked through the ship, Spark was the center of attention of everypony in the crew. He could over hear some of the ponies making hushed remarks, such as, “He really did it,” and, “They’re still alive.” The second comment, he could easily attribute to the fact that he was an earth pony, but the first one was a mystery to him. The tone suggested surprise, but was it positive or negative? Hoofwind led the ponies into a room that had a plaque over the door, “Captain’s Cabin.” Once they were inside and the door had been closed, Hoofwind pointed the ponies to a couple of seats in the room and sat down himself. “This’s mah ship, but Ah’m lettin’ ya’ll on board on a couple o’ conditions. Ya’ll ain’t gonna attract too much attention; it’ll be safer that way.” A few moments of silence passed before anypony spoke again. Spark’s silence was mostly due to the lack of trust for Hoofwind. Back home, he could trust ponies because of the fact that he wasn’t being hunted down and he didn’t have to worry about saving Sonnet. Here though, everything was different and there was no room for misplaced trust. For all Spark knew, Hoofwind was going to take him straight to the Constellar ponies. “Why are you helping us?” Spark finally asked. “Mah wife and daughter were earth ponies.” Hoofwind said quietly. “Needless ta say, they aren’t around an’more.” His content for the Constellar ponies made more sense, but just like with the gryphon, it was a possibility that he was lying. Spark decided to play along, but to be ready for betrayal at any moment. On the possibility that Hoofwind was telling the truth, they would hopefully make it to Sonnet before it was too late. “So, where exactly do ya’ll need ta go?” Hoofwind asked after regaining his composure. “I can pretty much getcha an’where ya need ta get here in Equus.” “Equus?” Star Swirl asked. “It’s the name of the world.” Hoofwind replied, shaking his head. “I shoulda known that ya’ll were from somewhere else, ain’t no earth ponies left. No way, no how.” “We came through a misfired magical spell.” Star Swirl explained, earning himself a dark glared from Spark for revealing too much to a stranger. “I thought that we were just moved to another nation, but it appears that we may have traversed our way between dimensions. The world, at least where we’re from, is called Equestria, which is also the name of our home nation.” “Ah see. Well, now that we’ve got that settled, where do ya’ll need ta go?” Hoofwind asked again. “North. We need to head off the Constellar ponies before they make it all the way up to the Frozen North.” Spark stated. “Head ‘em off? What do ya’ll plan ta do when you see ‘em again?” Hoofwind asked, bringing up a point that hadn’t completely crossed Spark’s mind at that point. What was he going to do? Ask them politely to let Sonnet go? Kick a rock at them? Star Swirl had mentioned earth pony magic, but Spark didn’t know the first thing about actually doing it. Or did he? “I read a book about earth pony magic before arriving here.” Spark replied after a few moments of silence. “If the magic from Equestria is anything like the magic that can be done here, then I can learn it.” “I see.” Hoofwind responded quietly before taking a step toward the door. He pushed the door open and shouted out to the members of his crew, “Weigh anchor and prepare ta set sail fer north!” “Thank you.” Star Swirl stated as Hoofwind came back in to his cabin. “Now I gotta question fer ya, Mr. Earth Pony. Do ya know what kinda magic yer good at?” Hoofwind asked, sitting down at a desk and pulling out a book. “What do you mean, ‘what kind of magic’?” Spark asked back, watching as Hoofwind flipped through the pages with a reasonable level of caution. “Mah wife Shera was capable o’ using fire based spells.” Hoofwind continued, stopping on a certain page and looking up at Spark. “So, what can ya do?” “Uh…” Spark hesitated. He hadn’t tried anything out yet, how was he supposed to know that? “What are the possibilities?” “Fire, earth, air, water, light, and ‘bout another dozen or so less common ones.” Hoofwind replied. “Mah daughter had light an’ could blind a pony easy.” “I haven’t tried yet, so I don’t know.” Spark shook his head. “Well, on the chance that it’s water, here’d be a good place ta start learnin’. If yer lucky, you’ll be able to use water, pegasi have a hard time flying when they’re wet, Constellar ponies ain’t no exception neither.” Hoofwind explained, getting back up and opening the cabin door, leading both Star Swirl and Spark out into the open air again. “We should be far ‘nough away fer it ta be safe fer ya’ll.” Hoofwind waved his crew away slightly, informing them of what was about to happen. They all happily obliged, ecstatic about being able to see an earth pony cast a spell. There was a quiet murmur making it way around the crew, not quite loud enough for Spark to make out any of what was being said. Spark began recalling upon what he had read in the book. Step one, steady breathing patterns. Step two, vision what you want to accomplish. Step three, act on that vision. Spark took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and imagined a spout of water rising up beside the ship. When he opened his eyes, he was disheartened to see that the water had not been bent to his will. He tried again, failing just as he had the previous time. “Ah did say that most ponies could only use one kinda magic.” Hoofwind laughed, causing the rest of the crew to laugh. It was the kind of laugh that was shared between friends and it made Spark feel a little more comfortable. “I guess you did.” Spark replied, scratching his head with his hoof. “At least I know what my magic is not.” Spark looked over at Star Swirl, who smiled back at him. He could only assume that it was because he was doing a little better as far as not letting everything get to him. So far, Star Swirl had mostly focused on just getting Spark to think before acting. “Captain!” started one pegasus, gliding down from the crow’s nest and hovering in front of Hoofwind. “I can see them off the coast. It looks like a scouting group.” “It seems our plans’ve jus’ changed. Constellar ponies are waitin’ fer ya along to shoreline. I’m afraid that if we drop ya’ll off there, they’ll kill ya.” Hoofwind turned to a member of the crew and addressed him, “Crusher, Ah need ya to take the helm and take us west, toward Hawks Island.” “Aye, aye Captain.” replied a pony, giving Hoofwind a quick salute before flying up to the helm of the ship. “Prepare for a hard turn to Port!” The ship gave a sudden jerk to the left and they changed course. At least three ponies lost their hoofing and fell onto the deck of the ship. The remainder of the crew went to work making sure that the ship would be able to handle the sharp turn. They were hard at work keeping everything on the ship in its right place. Once the ship was level again, Star Swirl addressed Captain Hoofwind. “You mentioned going to Hawks Island? Where exactly is that?” “More importantly, how are we going to get from there to head off the Constellar ponies?” Spark asked, not giving Hoofwind a chance to answer. “Hawks Island is the first in a chain o’ islands that lie north east o’ here. Upon reaching ‘em, the inhabitants should be able ta help ya’ll intercept the Constellar ponies on their way north.” Hoofwind explained before flying up to the helm of the ship and standing next to the pony that he had addressed as Crusher a few moments earlier. Crusher was a red pony with a dark brown mane. From what Spark could see, he was adept at managing the ship, but still needed supervision over something, or else Hoofwind wouldn’t have approached him like that. Just as Hoofwind started back in our direction, he was intercepted by a pony who had a mane unlike any that Spark had ever scene. Her mane was made up of three different colors, red, yellow, and blue. Her mane was messy and unkempt upon first glance, but after exchanging a few quiet words with Hoofwind, she flew past Spark at a blinding speed and he was able to see that her mane was made to look like that intentionally. Her coat was a dark blue and her eyes a bright pink. Her cutie mark was of a cloud with a section that almost looked like it was being kicked out. Spark assumed that it meant her special talent was weather and the manipulation thereof. The mare took off into the sky, leading a group of four more ponies, made up of two stallions and two more mares. Together they started to use their wings to create a gust of wind to give the ship in increased forward momentum. The ship made a noticeable increase in speed before the five ponies returned, the mare landing next to Spark and Star Swirl. “We should be there by sunrise tomorrow morning.” the mare stated, waiting by the newcomers for Hoofwind to finally get back to them. “Thank ya, Gale.” Hoofwind stated before turning to Spark. “I think that it would be pretty good fer you if ya’ll two were ta get some rest before we reach Hawks Island. Ya’ll will need it before we get there, ‘cause once we land, ya ain’t gonna get ta rest until ya’ll make it ta the mainland again.” “Thank you for the offer.” Star Swirl responded with a nod before following Hoofwind into a cabin that had several cots for ponies to sleep on. Spark was just behind them, but he didn’t plan on sleeping until he was with Sonnet again. It wouldn’t feel right, knowing that she was in danger and he was getting a good night’s rest. He and Star Swirl silently rested their heads on the cots that they had chosen to lie down on. It wasn’t long before Star Swirl had fallen into a much needed slumber, letting out the occasional grunt and, even rarer, snore. Spark however, stared upward thinking about every great experience that he had shared with Sonnet. Every joke and laugh that came in response, every silent conversation that brought them closer to one another, every time that he did something silly and made a foal of himself and she would play, along as though it was intentional. He remembered every tear that they had shed together and how, even in their darkest moments, they were always there for each other. He remembered the strength and courage that his sister had shown one day when he and Sonnet were out and a wild manticore attacked. Violet came in and subdued the beast with a single combative spell that she had created herself on the off chance that something dangerous came to the village. She had found the strength to protect the ponies that were important to her, and yet he, her little brother, was helpless at the hooves of a few winged fiends. There was hardly anything in either world that he wanted more than to save Sonnet from whatever fate the Constellar ponies had in store for her. The only exception being that it wouldn’t have ever been necessary in the first place. If it hadn’t been for his insatiable need to fulfill his stupid dream, she would have been fine. None of this would have ever happened. Star Swirl would have probably finished his teleportation spell where his actual students, the princesses, could have helped to support him. After all, they defeated that draconequus that had been dominating Equestria for so long. Even still, Spark was surrounded by greatness no matter where he went. Violet, his sister and all of her incredible talent and her even more incredible heart was what he always had to live up to at home. Now he was with the great Star Swirl the Bearded, possibly the most powerful unicorn to ever live and teacher of the two princesses. Sonnet, a pony so pure of heart that she had never voiced a negative thought her entire life and whose song could bring a light like no other into the hearts of everypony who could hear it. As Spark thought, he began to notice that the rocking of the ship steadily more and more rough as time passed. Eventually, he was knocked off of the cot that he had been laying on the whole time. Seconds later, Star Swirl followed suit, awakening him with a start. “Son of a-” Star Swirl grunted, rubbing his hoof against his head. “Hitch. What the buck?” The mare who had led the team in giving the ship a boost glided into the room. “You two, we need you to come up on deck. We’re having some issues making the transition right now in the storm.” Gale stated, dragging Spark behind her as she started toward the exit. Spark passed from the warmth of the ship’s interior into the heavy downpour of rain and gale force winds that had overtaken the once blue sky outside. It was dramatically colder and the clouds made it dark enough so that it was a challenge to see much of anything. Spark almost instantly lost sight of Gale once she had let go of his hoof. A flash of lightning lit up the sky, accompanied by a heavy, earth shaking boom of thunder. The lightning had given Spark the chance that he needed, letting him see that the ponies who were onboard the ship were all dispersed about, working on various tasks that were required to hold the ship together. He could also see that Gale was up by the crow’s nest, speaking to a pony who had just landed there. It looked like it was Crusher. Another flash of lightning revealed Crusher flying up into the sky and Gale swooping back down toward Spark and Star Swirl, who had just managed to catch up. “Listen,” Gale started, “I need you two to help the Captain keep us on course. In weather like this, it’s hard to keep a ship going where you want her to.” Just as Gale finished speaking, a third flash of lightning lit up the sky and Spark was able to make out a shape falling down toward the water. It was Crusher; he had been struck while flying up there, no life was left in the charred corpse that splashed into the water though. Regardless of the lack of hope, one of the ponies who had helped Gale previously dove after Crusher, but sadly, the next flash revealed that he returned empty hoofed. “Go!” Gale shouted, reiterating the importance of the task. Without a single word of argument, Spark hurried up toward where the helm of the ship was located. As he did, he was able to make out Hoofwind pulling on the wooden wheel. The stallion’s hooves were digging into the wooden surface of the ship. Spark quickly grabbed hold of the wheel where the captain was holding and tried to assist him in steering the ship. Star Swirl soon joined the pair, using his magic to take the wheel to its proper position and hold it there. Hoofwind quickly left them, giving only the instruction to “Hold ‘er steady!” Within a few moments though, they were rejoined by Gale, who seemed to have relaxed a bit. Soon the ship was moving on a much steadier path, despite the storm not letting up. Spark grew curious of how that was, inspiring him to look over the edge of the ship, only to see the water growing farther away. They were going up. Within moments the clouds that the ship was set to be passing through were cleared by a group of pegasi that had been flying above the ship. The blue sky was a welcomed change, but the last few moments had left Spark with more questions than he was ready to process. “B- but… how?” Spark asked in disbelief. “How else were we going to get to Hawks Island?” Gale replied calmly, letting out a long held back sigh of relief. “Oh, right, you guys are from another world.” “That we are.” Star Swirl replied, muting his magic and holding the wheel with his hooves. “So here’s the deal, Hawks Island and all of its neighboring Islands are a group of islands that float above the surface of Equus. Our ship is one that is specifically designed to be able to be lifted by just the right kind of winds, winds which are almost exclusively found in that perpetual storm that we just passed through. It’s dangerous; sometimes we lose ponies, like today. Crusher was a good stallion, but he just wasn’t experienced enough for the voyage.” Gale explained as an enormous float rock came into view. Spark had never seen such a pure blue sky before in his life. As his eyes drifted down from the sky, he found himself mesmerized by a stream of water that poured over the edge of Hawks Island, right down into the storm clouds below. There were still so many questions that he wanted answers for, but everypony needed a while to catch their breath and prepare for what was in store next.