Journey to the center of Equestria

by Rarity Belle

Chapter XCII

Seeing the destruction that was brought upon the vessel of the griffons, the captain of the smallest vessel did glance over to the Vengeful Belle with a shocked expression. The words that Rainbow had whispered to herself were still unknown to the rest of them. They all feared the rage of the unicorn. They had seen the destruction that she could cause if she really would have set her mind to it.

The imperial ship of the griffons continued to sink further and further into the waters until there was one last and massive explosion. An explosion that went accompanied with a flash of lightning. Whether the powder chamber had exploded or that lightning had struck into it, was not known to the group. All that they knew was that the imperial griffon ship had been sent down to the bottom of the ocean with all hands on deck.

All of the mares were shocked while they stood on the deck of the little vessel. They just couldn’t believe what Rarity had done to it. During the whole trip she appeared almost like a true lady, yet in the moment had she turned into a downright monster. None of them wanted to either see or speak to her if they ever had the opportunity to encounter her again. Not at sea at least.

The admiral of the navy placed her hands behind her back while she kept on watching the sinking, imperial ship. Grumbles left through her mouth as if she wanted to say something about the pirate captain. Though there weren’t any words that came out of her mouth that were actually audible for the rest of them.

Twilight would have turned her attention over to the admiral and tried to read the motions of the lips that she was making. Though once again she didn’t have the greatest of luck with it. The admiral only rarely moved her lips in a manner that it was understood. Instead she only loosened her lips from time to time to mumble apparent gibberish.

Even though the soothsayer didn’t exactly knew what the admiral had said to herself, she thought that the words were actually pretty clear. Yet Twilight dropped the matter from her mind when she realized something. Something that caused her eyes to go wide before she froze upon the deck. True terror seemed to have struck her and the rest of them didn’t even realize that yet.

“Oh this isn’t going to be good,” she mumbled to herself when she turned her attention over to the vessel of Rarity. “For the love of the goddesses, don’t come into this direction.”

Even the old stallion realized the facts as they were and he gained the same thought as Twilight had. The last thing that he needed was to get the Vengeful Belle right upon his own flanks. He quickly removed himself from the railing and took over the helm again. The worried expression was clearly readable within his eyes.

He was scared. He was genuinely scared about something to happen sooner or later. “Weigh the anchor, lower the sails and by the devil’s hair, make haste!” he bellowed over the deck. The urge to get to Canterlotian waters was his number one priority in the moment. The last thing that he wanted was to get swallowed up by another salvo of cannon fire.

All of the other mares then would have realized what he was talking about, not to mention what he seemed to be afraid of. Yes, it was true that one of their friends was aboard of the other vessel. And yes, it also happened to be the most notorious pirate captain in the whole land. Just that combination alone wasn’t really one to look forward too, especially after they had seen what happened to the imperial griffon ship.

The mares gained their motion back and rushed all over the deck of the small vessel. Each of them did what was asked of them without a question. There was no time to question the orders. They had to sail out with the outer currents of the storm and hope to stay away from the eye of it.

All of those risks had to be taken to outrun the Vengeful Belle. The old stallion constantly glanced over his shoulders to see the demon’s ship getting to closer to them. Though every time he looked, it did almost seemed as if the other ship laid literally stationary in the waters.

Whether it was actually that way or not left him cold in the moment. He just wanted to get the hell out of the place and for good reason. So with the rain pounding against their faces had the mares done what was asked of them and they were gaining speed.

Luckily for them were the winds right in their favors. The outer currents of the storm were rotating in such a way that it would be blowing them away from it all. That fact alone was a massive relief off of everypony’s heart.

But if they could have sailed upon the wind, the other ship would have done been able to do such a thing as well. It worried Applejack when she laid various knots to the ropes to secure them. The admiral looked over the waves of the ocean at a constant rate to see those black sails coming right at them. She thought that Rarity wanted to take her revenge upon the admiral once and for all.

The problem just happened to be that the admiral didn’t really know the pirate. She had spoken about the fact that she didn’t wanted any bloodshed upon their ship. And Rarity intended to keep that very promise to the mares.

~~~~

Aboard of the Vengeful Belle had the boatswain taken over the helm for a moment while Rarity looked through a telescope. The vessel itself did in fact lay almost still in the water because it was placed crossways with the wind. The eye of the unicorn continued to gaze through the glasses and noticed how the other vessel was making a run for it.

“And so it came to be, that the great company of mares has made the decision to split itself up once more,” spoke Rarity in a loud enough tone to make herself clear to the boatswain. A stallion who glanced over his captain with an expression of both curiosity and unknown. He had no idea where she talked about but could only guess.

“So, what’s our heading then captain?” he asked to her while his hands were itching to turn the helm into one of the many possible direction.

The captain removed the telescope from her eye and fold it up again. She then turned around to face the boatswain and seemed to have returned to her more normal side of being and handling. She allowed herself a gentle exhale before she gave a powerful nod. “Let’s head for the island and rebuild the damage what has been done. There’s no further need of me interacting with the crew aboard that ship. Turn her around and set sails. That’s all.”

“Aye aye captain,” the boatswain replied before he gave her a gentle salute. The mare chuckled it off in silence before she then want down the stairs and disappeared within her cabin. The unicorn captain had removed herself completely from the deck which meant that the boatswain was in command once more.

Then he did exactly what was asked of him. He turned the helm a couple of times so that the vessel would sail away from the mares.

~~~~

Who at their own turn seemed to have been lucky. Out of everypony was it Fluttershy who noticed how Rarity’s ship didn’t went straight for them. Instead she saw how it sailed the other way around. She pointed it out to all of the mares who couldn’t actually believe it.

The infamous White Widow had left them alone to hunt for other prey that sailed the ocean. But with the attention from them gone, it meant another thing to them all. If they managed to stay on their course did they had a literal free shot at getting to the harbor of Canterlot. Nopony was really that foolish enough to sail through the size of the storm that they were in.

It meant a wet suit and a possible cold in the end, or flu at worst. But they would have been alive and kicking. That fact alone was a thing that seemed to make it all worthwhile in their eyes.

Twilight turned her attention over to the old stallion with a quick motion. In her eyes she just saw that he knew what he was doing. Whether it was the wisest thing to do, was another question in and of itself. The unicorn then just shook her head. She didn’t wanted to remind herself upon the ideas of what could happen.

Instead she wanted to focus herself upon what was happening in the moment. That seemed to have been the best thing that she possibly could have been doing in the moment. She had to take her thoughts of about going to home. Because home was still a long, long way away. Especially when another flash of thunder lit up the skies like a candle.

Getting through the storm without too much trouble, that was their first priority.

Yet there was relief among the other mares. Each and every last one of them were actually glad that Rarity hadn’t returned to them with her ship. They all feared the threat that she could have come to them. Given the fact that the unicorn was in that moment the stronger force of being. Though at the other end there also was disappointment that went through all of them.

There happened to be a fact that none of them wanted to admit to themselves. A fact that was perhaps too stupid to talk about. At the other end of the spectrum it seemed to be the most normal thing to do in fact. The mares all released a deep exhale before they continued on doing what was asked of them for the moment.

The time to talk about the matter would have gotten to them at another point in time. Though only after they would have been send below decks. For the storm would still be needing to hit its highest point of all. That was the time when it wouldn’t have been safe anymore to sail. That was the time they would have been forced to take shelter below the decks.

The waves were raging, the winds were howling and the rain shattered upon the wooden deck like hail. The height of the storm had fallen upon them. It was the worst possible moment for them all to be in as the wooden vessel was in fact just toyed around with by the waves.

They could be speaking of luck that the anchor managed to keep them in place. But they had no idea where they would have woken up by the following day. At one end of the spectrum that didn’t seemed to be mattering too much for them all, that was a simple navigational task. No, there was another matter that played with all of them when they all had sheltered down in a hammock.

The captain of their vessel had sheltered down in his own cabin and had even offered the mares to stay there. But they made the decision to remained where they were. The mares all laid with their faces upwards as Pinkie had actually fallen asleep.

The lamia was just exhausted of everything and had to pick up the rest that she needed. Nopony could have blamed her for it though. She had been slithering around the deck as if there was no tomorrow in the past hours alone. One moment she was there, the next she was someplace else. Everywhere where the mares looked, they always would have seen Pinkie Pie in the corner of their eyes. It was a feat that not many could copy and one that they were all afraid of.

It was the emotion of silence that dominated the place they were in. The silence in which the mares sat was an eerie one. One filled with thoughts of what could have been’s. Thoughts that most likely were best to have been unspoken by all of them. That was with the exception of probably one. Fluttershy’s mind had been tormenting itself with the matter ever since it had occurred and she wasn’t truly happy about it.

Everything about the thought seemed to have been too sudden in her eyes. All of it was over right in a single flash. One moment it was that way, the next it was a whole different situation. It had not only confused the doctor but also it had troubled her. She shook her head a couple of times before a deep exhale came from her nostrils.

She didn’t had the real desire to figure out about it anymore. Though whether she knew it or not, the words were spoken through her most. “I feel bad, for not having been able to say a proper goodbye to Rarity.”

Those words, spoken in that seemingly sad tone of hers made the mares think about it for a moment. The heads were gently raised from the hammocks and they all glanced over to the doctor’s. She did happen to have a point though. More of them felt bad about that very thing. Even though there wasn’t really anything that they could have done in order to prevent it from happening.

Rarity was, and always would have been, a pirate until the day she would pass away. Their destination was Canterlot and if she only had set a hoof in the port, there would have been agents all over her. Disguise or not, she would have been picked out just like that. That was actually the fate that she tried to run from, to remain the free unicorn that she was and hoped to remain for a long, long time to come.

“I understand what you’re saying, Fluttershy,” replied Twilight in a soft and well-meant tone towards the doctor. The pegasus turned her head gently into the soothsayer’s direction and just nodded as a silent thanks. “But would we really have been able to say goodbye to her in the moment as it was?”

“Probably not,” the major of the air force replied almost in a tone that was as cold as ice. “The griffons were hunting us like crazy, the last thing we needed was a long and intimate goodbye with her. We would have been chum for them, by the time it was over.”

Twilight had listened with some care to the words and they did ring a form of truth. But whether the rest of the mares knew it or not, was that there was a more hidden layer within her words. She seemed to have been saddened by the single fact that she was unable to say anything to Rarity. What had caused that thought to surface in the mind of Rainbow, was another question.

Perhaps the two had managed to find some common ground to build a friendship upon? It was yet another matter where Twilight could have focused herself upon. Which helped her in the risk to not start thinking too much about home.

Danger lurked everywhere on the seas and with the thunder just rumbling down upon them like it did, they all were terrified and left over at the mercy of the sea. Applejack seemed to have been the only one that was able to withstand it all. But that didn’t came as a surprise to many of them.

“It’s the way of the sailor,” she spoke just before she had laid her head back on the pillow. What then followed was a gentle exhale that came through her nostrils. “A sailor comes and goes out of the lives of others, appearing and disappearing whenever duty calls or lets him go. Rarity’s just another example of that principle, same as Ah’m.”

The words were certainly harsh, perhaps a little bit cold even for the admiral. But they were all true words. The very fact that they were true scared Fluttershy a whole lot more. The pegasus shook her head inside of her hammock and tried not to think too much about it.

The last thing that she needed was to be spooked too much by somepony who had left them as a group. The entire group had already started to split up. It only would have gotten worse the closer they had gotten to the capital of their land. The end was closing in and they all felt it.

Once again were the thoughts of terror taking her over. Once again did she thought about things that didn’t require much thought to begin with. She just had to take her mind off of it all like Twilight did. Everypony needed their sleep actually. The storm would continue to rage on for hours anyway.

Time came and went before the captain of their vessel finally made his way down to their resting place. His old eyes glanced over each of the mares and he noticed how most of them were still actually awake. Awake enough to hear him talk at least. “I’m afraid that we have to sit the storm out, lasses,” he said to them when the ship’s swell had become truly worrisome.

All of them knew what that meant but it also meant that they could sleep for a little while longer. The stallion bit his lips because he didn’t wanted to leave them hanging with just bad news. He wanted to give them that little spark that they needed, for there was literally no reaction upon his words whatsoever.

“Which means that, over a day and a half we will be sailing into the port of Canterlot,” he added to the words. Even though the words and the news should have been great for all of them, there still wasn’t the much desired reaction that he had hoped for. It almost seemed to him as if the mares didn’t really wanted to go home or something along those lines.

He wouldn’t have been truly mistaken on the matter. The mares had been spending so much time together and out of their normal lives that getting back to them would just seemed strange. Yet the company of mares couldn’t exist forever either. No, everything had to come to an end and they were pretty close to it.

Inside of the hammocks had everypony heard the words of the old stallion. Some were happy, but all were sad deep inside of their consciousness. Whether the sad thoughts were suppressed by everything happy or just given the free walk was up to them. Twilight at least was having a truly difficult time on the matter. She had been gathering the mares and led them to the best of her abilities.

Within the snap of a finger in the gears of time, would it all have been over. It caused a little tear to be travelling down her cheek as she didn’t wanted it to end. Not yet and not in the way that it most likely would have done. She wanted to keep them all together, somehow. Perhaps she could make a drawing of them all as a group which would serve as a reminder.

That idea still excluded Rarity’s very presence, which meant that it was still incomplete. Another sigh was released through her nostrils before she heard the hooves of the old stallion go up to the deck again. Most likely he would have gone back to his own cabin to think things over. Something that Twilight had been doing for far too long in her own mind.

The unicorn soothsayer just didn’t seemed to be able to get to sleep. She constantly had to think about things that weren’t for the right reasons. Thoughts about the company, herself and their completed task all just surged through her like that.

Though out of everything was there one set of words that kept on lingering deep within her mind. Words that were spoken by the ancient dragon that was simply known as the Eternal One. His last said words to the unicorn continued to be hammered against her. The fact that she carried the fire of an alicorn inside of her kept on being smashed against and within her.

Whatever he truly had meant with his words she didn’t know. She didn’t really wanted to know either. While it was true that she knew one alicorn, the chance couldn’t have been there that she also had the potential of becoming one, right? Twilight didn’t saw it happening to herself, not anytime soon at least. The sudden ability to fly and have the power of all three races at her possession, it just didn’t seemed to be suiting her one bit.

She was just a simple soothsayer that listened to the will of the goddesses and did what was asked of her. All while bringing the way or the soothsayers over to the students that she taught to. She couldn’t have been worthy of becoming an alicorn, let alone having their fire within her. It just didn’t seemed to have been right in her own eyes.

Thoughts like that caused her to stay awake for almost all of the night. All the way up to the point where she just removed herself out of the hammock. She had to get some fresh air whether it was still storming or not. The unicorn walked up the stairs that were leading to the top deck as she noticed something.

Or better worded: she noticed that something was actually missing. There was no heavy swell and no heavy sounds of waves crashing against the wood. All that she heard was the fine rain ticking against the wood of the top deck.

The chance was there that the storm had already passed them by and that they were just having the last little pieces from it. At least that was the thing that she hoped for. Whether it was that way or not could only have been discovered by going one way. She had to go straight up the deck and see for herself.

Twilight took a deep inhale through her mouth before the eyes were closed a second or two. She then gave a gentle nod to herself and spoke a singular word. “Okay.” And then she was off. Off to the deck that laid above her.

The rain splattered against her face like a fine haze. It wasn’t the massive drops anymore but the much finer variant of it. The drizzle was actually a lot more annoying than the actual rain though the soothsayer could be living with it. When her eyes opened, she did notice the old stallion with a lantern at the deck of the ship. Of course there was the natural curiosity raised within Twilight, until she thought of the fact that he could have prepared everything for the trip the following sunrise.

Though it wouldn’t have taken too long before the two anthronies noticed one another. The light of the lantern was actually right enough to light up half of the deck. Once he caught the unicorn in his eyes, the stallion could only give her a gentle chuckle before his words spoke up. “What’s the matter, lass? Unable to sleep now even that the sea is calm? What’s troubling that mind of yours, if this old sailor may ask you?” he spoke to her while he moved in upon her location with calm hooves.

The soothsayer herself was unable to answer the question that was asked to her with words of her own. She knew that any answer given to him could have been one that perhaps was going the other way, or perhaps the right way. Stutters of inaudible words were made by her as she shook her head a little bit.

They both remained standing in the drizzle while the light was hung back upon the mast. The mare remained standing in the opening to the deck below as the old stallion leaned against the main mast of the ship. His eyes never seemed to have been able to take themselves away from Twilight Sparkle.

There happened to be a rather mysterious yet interesting glance to her that pulled him back to her. He couldn’t have explained what it was or why it happened, yet he couldn’t complain too much about it either.

Twilight still struggled to herself about whether or not she would have told him the matter that was upon her mind. The longer she stared at his face, the more she opened up to him. Almost as if his old expression actually was an invitation of security. To her it felt as if she could just vent everything that was upon her mind and not get into too much trouble for it.

It was a downright crazy thought for certain. Even Twilight had to admit the fact as it was. Yet she couldn’t leave the stallion with an unanswered question. So the only thing that the mare could have done was to answer to the best of her abilities. With a gentle exhale she removed herself from the doorway and leaned against the wooden railing of it. The arms went crossways against her chest as she looked him in the eyes.

The expression never changed within his and she felt as if he was inviting her to actually tell the troubles that had been placed upon her mind. There was no actual way around it all. The unicorn had to tell what was on her mind, she had to tell him everything in order to make her mind become clear of matters again. The expression that then followed was an awkward little giggle that came from her, followed by a little shake of the head.

“Don’t be like that, I won’t spill your secrets to anypony. You have a coltfriend waiting for you in Canterlot?” he asked to her. Whether she liked it or not, but he had begun to actually fish for whatever thing Twilight couldn’t sleep because.

"What?!” the soothsayer exclaimed to him. She was genuinely surprised with his words. Out of all the words that could have been said to her, he had to come with a series of the most unpredictable ever. The mare was caught off guard and shook her head once more. Though that time it was done in just complete and utter confusion.

“N-No, there’s no coltfriend waiting for me,” added Twilight quickly.

“Then what is troubling you, lass?” the old stallion asked her as he rose an eyebrow.

Twilight couldn’t walk around it anymore even if she tried. The unicorn had to tell him everything that was upon her mind. “Okay,” she said with a deep exhale. “It’s, about the trip that we made as a group. Just, promise me that you take everything as I say and don’t spill it through to anypony else.”

The old stallion could see in his eyes and hear with his ears that the unicorn meant her words. Whatever words would have been shared between the two of them, it would remain confidential. He only gave her a gentle nod to confirm that everything would remain between them. The time to tell the tale had come for her.

The soothsayer took a gentle inhale as she then realized that there really wasn’t any way back for her anymore. She either had to lie everything together in the hope that he would take it, or tell him the truth as it was. Though in her eyes there was only one way through which everything could have been solved.

What followed next were the words of Twilight being spoken in truth. She told him everything that had happened to her, everything that the company had been going through before they met him.

The stallion was visually impressed with the tales that the mare told him and gently stroked over his chin. “That’s quite the tale that you’re having there, lass, no argument there. But you’re wondering, why it all happened, aren’t you?” he spoke to her.

Twilight nodded to him before she added one other little thing. “That, and I’m just wondering what the dragon meant with his words. That I carry the fire of an alicorn. It’s all just, how do I put it nicely? Confusing, might be the word I’m looking for here.”

The old stallion nodded once again to the soothsayer before he made his own reply on the matter. “Life is a curious thing, as you may have seen countless times yourself, lass. Some things are more easily explained than others. And then there are some, that can’t be explained by anything.”

His words didn’t really give a clear answer upon the troubling thoughts of Twilight. If anything, they only made it actually as clear as mud to her. Everything that he had told her, she already knew. Yet she never spoke any of it out of respect for the aged stallion.

Seconds went by in silence while the drizzle continued to pour down upon the two of them. One of her words seemed to have sparked a rather great interest in the old stallion, he had sunk deep in very own thoughts. Whether it was up to Twilight to disturb him from aid thoughts remained to be seen. She thought about it perhaps more times than ever as he did seem dangerously close to slipping into a state of unconsciousness.

But then he shocked back up and looked around the place for a little while. The gentle swell of the vessel was actually more than enough to get him back in the there and then again. He once more stroked his chin before the words left his mouth. “The ancient race of alicorns, not seen in years upon the face of the land, but you have me believe that there’s one up in the Frozen North,” he spoke to her then. Finally there came a new set of words out of his very mouth.

A deep exhale followed through his nostrils while he didn’t seemed to be really believing the words that she said. Yet at the other end he didn’t judge her either. He hadn’t seen an alicorn in years but that didn’t stood equal to the fact that they weren’t there anymore. Though it did open a door inside of his mind that seemed to have been closed for an awfully long time.

There was another shock that went through the stallion before he closed his eyes almost to the halfway point. What followed next were the words spoken in a calm, but also near quiet tone. Almost as if he didn’t wanted that the other mares knew what he would be saying. “Legends has it that the goddesses were once alicorns in ancient times. Back in the time when things were a little bit more, primitive, shall we say.”

The eyes of Twilight went wide as she hadn’t told him anything about the fact that they had seen a stone statue in the shape of a pony Celestia. The matter only struck Twilight was both interesting and curious as she couldn’t believe it at all. “How do you know all of this, if I may ask? You’re an earth anthrony, so the usage of magic is something out of the question. No offence, just setting the facts straight.”

The old stallion couldn’t help himself but to release a chuckle towards the unicorn. She was caught off guard on a subject she thought to have known everything. “Questions are there to be answered, lass, that much is certain. However, some questions are best left unanswered. So allow me to answer your question with another question.”

“G-Go right ahead,” the soothsayer spoke. She removed a strand of wet hair out of her eye.

The stallion pulled a gentle grin across his lips before he said the words he wanted to say. The tone he said them in was curious, interesting perhaps, almost a little mischief was to be found as well. “Legends always have a core of truth. The strongest unicorn in the land all that time ago had claimed to have the power of reincarnation. So what say you, do you believe in reincarnation?”