Chapter Seven – The Kindness of Strangers
Captain, crew, and passengers of the Flying Dutchmare huddled below decks. The impatient storm had come to them and not the other way around. Rain fell in sheets as wind lashed at the vessel still clinging to anchor points a few miles north of the terrors. The boat swayed like a pendulum as the discussion tipped one direction and swung back again.
“I tell you, this storm isn’t natural.” Seachelle paced the deck of the lower hold. “We were promised safe passage and I’m not weighing anchor until the skies clear.”
“We have a deadline to meet. The princess must arrive at the Bay of Ages by tomorrow at noon.” Starswirl circled and crossed by the captain matching wills in a battle of counterpoint. “Storm or no storm, we must be on our way.”
“Then why don’t you conjure up some spell to change the weather and throw the wind at our back so we can slip past the terrors without incident, great and powerful Starswirl the Bearded.” Seachelle came to a stop in front of her crew. “I’m not going to risk the lives of everypony aboard this ship just so you can meet your precious deadline.”
“I wish it were that simple, captain. I agree that the storm poses a danger, but magic is not the solution here. Perhaps I can suggest an alternative?” Starswirl reached into his pouch and produced a tiny, iridescent seashell.
Seachelle pulled back with a look of shock and surprise. “Is your deadline so important that you would resort to drastic measures?” Captain and crew looked on with most mouths hung agape.
Twilight glanced over at the shell. “I don’t understand. What’s so special about a little shell?”
“Follow me and you’ll see.” Starswirl skipped over to the ladder and propped open the trap above. “It’s just a little water—nothing to worry about.”
Seachelle donned her hat. “This wasn’t part of our deal, wizard. I’m not in agreement with this plan especially with the added risks you propose.” She turned back to her crew and signaled for them to follow. “Come on lads, we better make a good impression with our new guests—you too, princess.”
Still unsure of the plan or the implications of Starswirl’s methods, Twilight followed the captain to the rain-soaked deck above. The water lashed at her face as she poked her head out into the downpour. Within moments of reaching the deck, whatever part of her wasn’t covered in her traveling cloak was soaked through. She felt relieved that Rarity had the foresight to enchant the fabric with a waterproofing spell.
Starswirl led the company to the railing middeck. He turned the shell over in his hoof adding a layer of magical glow before rearing back and tossing it over the side. The shell sang as it whistled through the rain-choked air before plunging into the rolling waves below. The water began to bubble and glow near the point of entry. Rays of light shot off in half-a-dozen directions further out to sea.
“Will somepony tell me what the hay is going on here?” Twilight propped her hooves up on the rain-slick rail as she watched the light show in the water below.
“Patience, my dear. Your curiosity will be answered in short order.” Starswirl raised his own hooves to the rail and gazed out at the ocean next to Twilight.
Seachelle jumped up next to the wizard and hung from the bowline. “For the record, I never agreed to this, Starswirl.”
Buckaneer held up a spyglass and surveyed the horizon. “We have incoming! Crew to your stations!” The rest of the crew scampered off taking up positions at the bow and stern.
Twilight raised a hoof to block the falling rain from her view and peered out over the white-capping waves. In the distance, she could make out a dozen or so shapes dancing over the swell and on a collision course with the ship. As the objects closed in, she realized what it was that Starswirl intended. “Sea Ponies? How are they going to help?”
“Those slippery mer-mares are not to be trusted. We who sail above the water’s edge don’t mix well with those that swim below. I don’t like your plan, Starswirl. Not one bit.” Seachelle sung down from the railing and pulled her first mate in tow as she retired to the bridge.
Starswirl called back through the driving rain. “You don’t have to like my plan, captain—you just have to steer your ship. Our friends will take care of the rest. You were promised safe passage, and that’s what I’ll deliver.”
Twilight hung somewhat over the railing straining to get a better view of the Sea Pony throng. She had never laid eyes on a real sea dwelling pony and felt drawn to the revelation of their encounter. Illustrations of the mer-ponies from her books didn’t do them justice. They came shooting over the waves in a glittering array of color. The driving rain failed to arrest their advance and soon the Sea Ponies flocked to the gunwale of the Flying Dutchmare.
“Whatever the trouble,”
“Whatever the wish.”
“Sea Pony friends, we’re here to assist!”
Twilight gazed out over the school. Their scales and fins reflected what little light broke through the dark grey clouds above. A million tiny sparkles shot out from the shoal as they jumped and flipped in the water’s swell. What she assumed to be their leader approached. “Who has called upon the Sea Ponies and what is their request?”
“Milady,” Starswirl bowed his head and made a sweeping gesture across the ship, “the Flying Dutchmare stands in need of assistance. We find ourselves between a rock and a—well you know about all that.” He swung his foreleg over and pointed at Twilight. “We need to get our lovely princess settled into the Bay of Ages before noon tomorrow. Could you lend a fin in helping us on our way?”
“What you ask is difficult, but not impossible. The call of the shell demands we repay the kindness shown before. We shall do what we can to assist.” With a toss of her fin and a kick of her tail, the Sea Pony flipped back into the water. Reappearing a moment later, she called out to her companions. “Release the anchors and make ready in formation.” Turning back to Starswirl, she bowed her head. “If you would toss out a few lengths of rope, we will provide the sea-horsepower to guide your vessel through the peril.”
“Excellent, the crew will see to it immediately.” Starswirl broke from the railing and hollered back to the captain. “Captain Seachelle, toss these fine sea-folk your finest hawser and make ready to sail!”
Seachelle spat back under her breath, “Aye, aye, captain.” She turned to her mate. “Buckaneer, make it so. Weigh anchor and let’s try and get through this in one piece. Bad enough to be facing the Perils let alone being towed through by a, by a bunch of Sea Pony rabble.”
With no end to the storm in sight, the crew of the Flying Dutchmare made short work of securing the rigging and hauling up anchor. Captain Seachelle ordered them below deck all except for Buckaneer who stood watch at the bow and signaled to the Sea Ponies to begin the haul. Twilight, Starswirl and the captain stood at the wheel. Twilight projected a magical barrier to keep the rain at bay above the group.
“I hope these mer-mares of yours can live up to your promise, Starswirl. It’s not an easy task to avoid both the cliff and the pull of the current while staying simultaneously out of reach of both. In fact, it’s nigh impossible.” Seachelle whipped her tail around to shake out the water. A heavy rope was bound around her midsection and tied off at an eyelet on either side. She signaled to Buckaneer who relayed the order to the propulsion team.
The Flying Dutchmare went from barely treading water to skimming the surface in a matter of thirty seconds. Twilight and Starswirl grabbed hold of the bridge rail to avoid being thrown backwards into the aft cabin. Even with their safety harnesses secured, they held onto something solid for good measure. Seachelle held tight to the till and kept both eyes forward on her first mate, also tethered to the forebitt near the bow.
Lighting crackled through the sky and lit up the waters ahead as the ship neared the passage. It wouldn’t be long before the full magnitude of their fears were either realized or surpassed. Twilight kept a close eye on the cliff ahead for any sign of the beast said to lie in wait of passing ships. She shifted her gaze to the churning whirlpool and the equally important dangers of succumbing to its pull. Maintaining a hold of her rain-shield spell, she allowed the captain to concentrate without the added distraction of the weather.
The Sea Ponies tightened formation and made ready to shoot the gap. As they neared the Terrors, the first of their fears manifested. The monster Scylla burst forth from the cliff wall, a tangle of serpent heads lashed out in the driving rain.
“Hold on everypony! This is going to be close.” Seachelle signaled ahead and turned the wheel to port. The rudder shifted and the ship broke from its straight shot up the middle. “We need to put some distance between us and that thing. It’s going to put us dangerously close to that giant whirlpool and whatever’s waiting beneath it. We have to take our chances since that hydra doesn’t seem to be in the friendliest of moods.”
The boat shifted left and continued through the break. Snapping heads came within several feet of catching hold of the mainstay. Any closer and the boat would have been in peril of being dragged into the cliff with the monster bearing down from above. The whirlpool of Charybdis churned off the port side. Twilight peered down into the depths taking note of the jagged rocks and breaks that littered the swirling sides of the watery vortex.
Just as they passed the halfway point, the unthinkable happened. Straight ahead, lightning struck the water. The burst of thunder sent shockwaves of heat and sound washing over the boat and her crew. Twilight gasped with the rope closing around her middle as she was flung back from the railing. Starswirl joined her a split-second later. She blinked hard against the driving rain—her rain-shield spell broken in the process of her backwards fall. Fighting to stand, the words of the first mate caught her attention as they boomed over the brilliant ringing in her ears. “Pony overboard! Sea Pony down! Whatever it is—I have no idea!”
Buckaneer’s frantic pointing and shouting drew Twilight’s attention back to the whirlpool. The nearby shouts of Captain Seachelle pierced through the slapping of the rain. “Leave it be, there’s nothing we can do. Drive on!” She lowered her head and pitched her body into the wheel, turning it with all her might to starboard.
Twilight rolled to the outer railing and struggled against the slippery wood to pull herself up. An orange Sea Pony spun back into the watery vortex. With every moment adding distance between the ship and the mer-mare, Twilight acted on impulse. She fired up her horn and blasted her safety line away. Tearing off her cloak and fanning out her wings, she shot off from the deck and dove into the fray.
The rain beat down on her feathered wings making it extremely difficult to remain aloft. Drawing on the training from her flying coach, Rainbow Dash, she banked over the whirlpool and lined up with her target. The orange dot in the water below fell to the mercy of the current as it spun and crashed among the rocks.
Twilight launched into a dive and dropped toward the water. As she dug down deep toward the crashing swirl against the jagged rocks, she grabbed at the still and broken shape and flapped with everything she had. The pull of the current fought her, but owing to her momentum and tenacity, she was able to pull the Sea Pony free of its grasp. With her rescue tucked tight in her forelegs against her chest, she winged back toward the boat.
Starswirl’s magic embraced her and the precious cargo as she neared the vessel. He helped guide her to a squishy landing to the rear of the bridge. As soon as she hit the deck, he rushed to her side. “That was either the dumbest thing you have ever done, or the bravest. With you safely back aboard, I think we can settle on the latter. Now, let’s see to your friend.”
Starswirl pried back Twilight’s locked in grip as he worked to examine the state of the Sea Pony beneath. Having made it past the danger, the captain and her drive team were now putting some distance between them and the twin perils. The cost of their passage lay painfully evident on the aft deck. Differing from moments ago, the normally bright and shiny scales of the young mer-pony curled back against exposed flesh—both dark and singed. Her breathing was erratic; her eyes rolled back in her head. The lightning left its mark as up and down the left side of her body nothing but charred and broken flesh remained.
“Oh dear…” Starswirl’s plaintive response made it clear to Twilight that the situation was dire.
“How bad is she?” Seachelle turned back from the wheel to check on the rescue’s condition. Catching sight of her, she hung her head and nodded away. “That’s not looking good.”
Twilight rolled off her side and shakily got to her hooves again. She looked down at the struggling mer-pony writhing in pain. “Use your healing spell, Starswirl. We have to save her!”
Starswirl hung his head. “I wish I could, but my magic is depleted past the point where I can perform the spell. I fear a repeat performance of my earlier work just isn’t possible.” He looked up and latched onto Twilight’s gaze. “But there may still be a way to save this one—you can perform the spell.”
The rain dripped from Twilight’s mane as she fought to respond. “Me? But how do I… What should I… I don’t know the first thing about that kind of advanced magic—I’ve never studied anything like it.”
“Of course you do. You just need to remember where to look is all.” Starswirl pointed over at Twilight’s flank.
With the growing distance the ship had made, the storm’s intensity waned. Light peeked through the clouds and the pour turned into a drizzle. Twilight stepped back falteringly from the injured Sea Pony. “I’ve never tried anything like that before. How can I know I won’t hurt her even more?”
Starswirl came over to steady her and placed his foreleg on her shoulder. Whispering aside, he added, “I don’t think she has very long. The least you can do is try and save her. No pony will fault you for trying. It’s the only chance she has.” He gently turned her head and looked directly into her eyes. “I have faith in you. I know you can do this.”
Twilight stood resolute. She stared back guardedly into Starswirl’s eyes. The twin black pupils reflected back an image of her own royal visage. She turned and caught a nod from Seachelle before boldly taking a step forward. “I’ll do my best.”
Starswirl stepped away as Twilight brought her magic to bear. Gazing down into the pain-seared eyes of the frightened Sea Pony, Twilight’s mind filled with the memory of her recent injury. Her horn lit up. Her eyes went white. The magic within her reflected in the points of her crown as a rainbow formed at the focal point of her horn. The rainbow arced back to her flank and searched the magic remnants that were embedded in her flesh. She sought out Starswirl’s magical signature as she delved into the very essence of her own cutie mark.
Like a flash of lightning, clarity struck. Twilight burst into her rainbowfied state as she yelled out the words that burned into her consciousness. “Sano vitae!” Arcs of rainbow color spun out from her horn. The entire boat felt the echo of the magical force that drove into every board and rattled every nail.
Wave upon wave of rainbow light poured out from Twilight’s core. The Sea Pony’s skin reformed and returned to its original orange hue. A shiny layer of scales laid back across the scar as the mer-mare took in a deep breath and savored the soothing drops of rain that fell gently on her side made whole. She looked up at Twilight and mouthed the words. “Thank you, princess.”
Twilight, her magic spent, dropped to her knees. Her rainbow markings faded away as the spell completed its work. She took a steadying breath as her eyes returned to normal. Looking down at the smiling patient, she allowed a wearied smile to cross her face. “It worked.” She slumped to the ground and let her own tears of joy mingle with the last vestiges of the rain storm.
Starswirl brought his minimalized magic into service and lifted the Sea Pony off the deck of the ship and settled her back in the water. The rest of her kind cheered her return having brought the ship another league away from any danger. Twilight pulled herself up and climbed to the railing to watch the happy reunion. Their leader embraced the nearly lost soul and signaled for her team to depart. She waved a fin toward the boat. “We shall never forget this kindness. Our eternal gratitude we give to you, Princess Twilight. Take this as a symbol of our promise to always assist a friend in need. The Sea Ponies will answer the call.” With a powerful flick of her tail, a string of shells came flying out of the water.
Starswirl caught the strand in his magic pull and lowered them over Twilight’s neck. “I believe these are for you, princess. May the Scion always trust in the Kindness of others and have the courage to show the same in return.”
The necklace sparkled in the light breaking through the thinning clouds. Twilight reached up to hold the strand and ponder the thankfulness in her heart for having been able to save the life of a near stranger. Gazing out over the horizon at the departing shoal, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Princess Twilight, I believe there is someone else who would like a word with you.” Starswirl guided her back from the railing and turned to present a teary-eyed first mate.
Buckaneer dropped to one knee and offered up his eye patch in the other. “I am forever in your debt, Princess. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for this generous gift of sight.” Tears streamed down from both eyes of the stalwart buck. Seachelle could barely contain herself as she dove around the neck of her first officer and hugged him for all he was worth.
Stats
Page generated in 0.016 seconds
Total duration
872 users online
1,110,600 hits today, 2,156,967 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Wow, ive been busy this weekend. Far too busy to even begin reading the backlog of chapter updates. And now i'm getting back into the swing of things, time for another comment on this lovely, slightly more mature although nonetheless, perfectly fitting, chapter.
It pains me to say this, but I probably would have prefered if the Sea Pony had met a rather more ultimate end.
Yes, I know, i'm a bit twisted.
But seriously, it would show Twilight perhaps a greater lesson than self-sacrifice, which has now been shown multiple times. It would have shown her that she actually can't save everyone. And that is definetly a lesson that deserves priority, right?
Heck his half the reason why I like the 12th Doctor: His mentality towards saving people is prorities towards getting himself in a position to save others, regardless of how many people get caught in the crossfire. Darn i'm off course again... And it's probably not my place to critisise such plot devices, but a shoal of pissed Sea Ponies would have been awesome!
5041435 What can I say - I'm a purist at heart. Can't kill stuff on the show - can't do it here. I've been thinking about going off in another direction down the road after this series wraps up, but I'm still debating how dark and/or mature I want to get.
The point I am trying to make here is that there is a sort of struggle for Twilight in always having to be the one to do the saving. It takes its toll. She almost needs a vacation where absolutely nothing happens that requires her immediate intervention. Makes for a boring story, but it would probably make for a much happier purple pony.
(Reviewer's note: Sorry this one was a little later than normal; had some distractions with a friend inviting me to a water park, followed immediately by a Father's Day party at my grandfather's house the next day, leaving little room for reviewing until now.)
Alright, so that storm decided to come to them first, so everypony is below deck with the ship anchored in place. And Seachelle is complaining about not technically having safe passage like she was promised.
Uh, Starswirl......you do realize that Pegasi aren't the only ponies who can control the weather? We see Rarity do it in Magical Mystery Cure - albeit, her own natural tendencies kinda messed it up, but she still manipulated the weather. Surely you can do so without too much trouble, right? Twilight even produced a Wind spell in Boast Busters (which she used on grass reeds to put the Ursa Minor to sleep). You've got all your bases covered, yet you refuse to use what you clearly have available to you!
But Starswirl produces an alternative way of passage.
And, of course, Starswirl doesn't explain, preferring to show us what it does - more like "show off" if you ask me.
So Starswirl uses this seashell to summon a school of Sea Ponies.
Apparently, Starswirl has shown them kindness in the past and the seashell was a token of repayment, which he is now using for their assistance. And the plan is to have the sea ponies tow the ship between the Twin Terrors and hope they can angle it just right. Am I the only one who's leery about this?
Guess I'm not alone.
Also, red highlighted area: unnecessary word repetition. Either she stuttered or that's a minor fix needed.
So after some short work and rope-tying (and an Umbrella spell over the ship), they're heading at an already unnatural speed inside of thirty seconds. Damn, those sea ponies are strong!
Everything seems to be going according to plan, with only a minor adjustment needed. But then...
Uh-oh......There goes some of their propulsion.
But Twilight won't have any of Seachelle's "leave her behind" sh
t, throws caution to the wind, and goes after the downed sea pony. With skill learned only from at least a year with training with Rainbow Dash, she manages to save her. But the sea pony isn't doing so great, with a giant charred hole in her side.
And it scares me that I'm not exaggerating that.
As they get to the other side of the whirlpool, the storm starts breaking down, and Twilight is at a loss as to what to do.
So, yeah. With some great encouragement, Twilight manages to cast the mass-heal spell that Starswirl used at the train, healing the lightning-struck sea pony - probably along with everypony within the next immediate 100 meters, AKA the whole ship - and is rewarded with a string of seashells to call upon the sea ponies whenever she has need of them.
And there's Kindness. Three down, two to go. (Kindness: Check)
Though I have to ask: was a healing spell that strong really needed? The train wreck was one thing, with practically everypony on board needing medical attention, but it's not like there was anypony else on the Flying Dutchmare who needed help, or any of the other sea ponies needed healing, right?
............I stand thoroughly corrected.
(Elements fulfilled thus far: Generosity, Honesty, Kindness)