Ensuring my mistress’s safety was the most pressing matter, particularly as I was unarmed and unprepared. I galloped away from the melee, only to nearly crash into her as she emerged from belowdecks.
“What’s all this about, Porter?” she asked, but upon looking past me, her curiosity resolved into grimness. I turned to see a sharkpony advancing on us both, a muscular male whose razor-sharp teeth formed a crooked grin.
“Stand back, you!” I called, trotting forward in front of my mistress. “Madame Fog has no part of this! Take the cargo that you came for, but leave us be.”
His head tilted back and forth, as he sized me up, still advancing. Then he sprung forward, grabbing me with both forelegs as his momentum sent me stumbling backwards. The rail of the ship crashed into my back and then I was falling, the both of us tumbling towards the dark waves.
I struggled valiantly as we plunged into the depths…
I froze, clutching my assailant as we hit the water…