Ice Fall

by Bluespectre

Chapter Thirty Three - Ramifications

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

RAMIFICATIONS

The whole vessel was deathly silent, as if the ancient ship herself were listening in shocked silence along with her crew. All of them stared open mouthed at the brown and white stallion as he finished his tale and sat down on his haunches before slugging back a mouthful of brandy. Helplessly, Salty turned to his Captain and gave a weak smile before Gretel finally broke the spell,

“Salty…” she wet her lips, only just realising how dry they’d become, “You were…”

“Aye.” He nodded, “I be the sole survivor. The rest o’ me shipmates, me skipper, me beloved Raven…they be sleepin’ now, down in the deep.” The old stallion looked up at her, his eyes wet with tears, “There ne’er be a day that goes by where I don’t wonder why I still be ‘ere and not with them. Sometimes…sometimes I wish I were sailin’ with the old girl in the seas o’ the next world.”

Haggis, for once away from the wheel, walked up and laid a hoof on Satly’s shoulder, “You will one day old friend.” He nodded, “One day, but until then, I hope you’ll take the company of the shipmates you have here and drink the health of the Revenge and her crew.”

“Aye…” Salty smiled, wiping his muzzle. He raised his glass, “Aye, I’ll drink ter that.”

The room echoed with a rousing cheer as the crew surged forward, surrounding the old sailor and barraged him with hugs and good natured teasing. That was, until somepony remembered the free bar and then like some sudden rogue wave, the thirsty sailors descended on the terrified barmares. Gretel decided it was time to disappear, hauling Salty, Doc and Strata free,

“My cabin. Now.”

The four of them forgotten by the mass of happy sailors, the small group of ponies headed up to the relative peace and quiet of the deck and into Gretel’s cabin. There she pulled out the last of her best brandy and set glasses out for them all before sitting down in her chair. Before her, Salty looked as white as a sheet, his ears twitching nervously. The Captain pushed the bottle towards him,

“Do the honours Salty, don’t stand on ceremony.”

“A…Aye, Cap’n” he stammered.

Gretel watched the brandy flowing out into each glass, each and every drop like liquid gold, reminding her in some terrible way of the poison that wondrous ship had held in her belly. She shuddered. Salty…Salty, Salty, Salty…what sights he had seen, what awful things he had experienced, and yet he was here alive and well. Was the story exaggerated? Was it a spin on an old sailors yarn? No…there was something in the telling of that story, an honesty, a feeling of loss and abandonment, a sense of self loathing at himself for not acting sooner. Salty blamed himself for the loss of that ship, the ship that had been his home and, in some strange way, his one love. Maybe it was the same with Haggis.

Gretel sighed and looked up into Salty’s eyes, “Was all of that true? All of it?”

“Aye Cap’n,” Salty replied, “As Celestia be me witness.”

The Captain nodded, “This…crystal…where is it now?”

Salty blanched, “I cannot say, Cap’n. I made a promise ter…”

“Salty,” Gretel said levelly, “I am your Captain, and, I hope, your friend. I hope you know you can trust me. But, I respect the trust the Raven placed in you. If you won’t tell me, at least tell me it’s safe.”

He nodded, “Aye. It’s safe Cap’n, safe as it can be.”

“It’s at Pickles’ place isn’t it.”

Salty’s eyes bulged, “What? Cap’n! How did you…?”

“-Because all the sailors on this ship use that place as a bank” Gretel cut in, “Goddess only knows why, but I suppose they’re…honest…of a sort.” She leaned forward, “Salty, listen, I want to tell you something that I want you to promise to keep secret, at least for now.”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

Gretel looked the old sailor right in the eyes, “Swear it on the memory of the Raven.”

“I…” Salty looked stricken, glancing at Strata and Doc then back to the Captain, “Aye, I swears it.”

“The same goes for you two as well.” Gretel said addressing the others, “If I find any of you have breathed a word of this, I’ll have you off this ship as soon as I can - if I don’t hang you first.”

Strata glanced at Doc, his face paling, before the two of them nodded as one.

“Good.” Gretel clopped her hooves on the table top and took a deep cleansing breath before continuing, “Salty, you’ve been honest with me and it’s only fair that I am with you.” She looked him in the eyes, “The Revenge was launched without her heart.” Salty’s eyes went wide in surprise as the Captain continued, “I don’t know if it’s possible, it’s a long shot, but if your story is true and the Raven’s heart is truly at Spurs Anvil, I have to ask you: would you give her heart to the Revenge?”

Salty looked shocked. What was he to say to that? To give the heart, the only connection he had to the Raven, to the Captain? But…it wasn’t really for the Captain was it? It was for the ship, the Revenge.

“Captain,” Doc interjected, “aren’t we leaping a little here? The Revenge seems perfectly happy without this ‘heart’ thing, and before you say anything, yes, Strata has told me what it is.”

The Captain looked to Strata, “And you? What do you think?”

The unicorn scratched his chin and gave a half smile, “Truthfully, Captain, I don’t know what would happen. To put a heart crystal that’s from another ship into a vessel that already has her soul…” he shrugged and waggled his eyebrows, “I just don’t know! There’s no record of it ever happening so far as I know.”

“Then speculate, Mister Strata!” Gretel said irritably, “You’re the nearest we’ve got to an expert, and…” she took a swallow of her brandy before raising an eyebrow at him, “I do value your knowledge.”

He actually looked worried, his expression telling her that he genuinely didn’t know,

“I’m sorry Captain,” he said shaking his head, “I simply have no idea. I suppose the two could blend together and make a whole, but they could also feasibly clash and create an unstable entity with two ‘personalities’ so to speak, each fighting the other for dominance.”

“But the heart is what makes the ship…” Gretel waved a hoof, searching for a word, “’alive’, isn’t it? And the ‘soul’ of the ship, her body, retains her memory.”

Strata coughed, “Well, that’s a very simplistic interpretation, yes, but…”

“But what?” Gretel said becoming annoyed by his evasiveness, “If the heart is the ships mind, then the memories would complement it wouldn’t it?”

Doc stepped forward, “Gretel, please, I think your excitement over the prospect of gaining a heart for the Revenge is affecting your judgement. You have to consider the risk to the Revenge as well as whether it would be something she’d actually want. Just as importantly, what about Salty?” He leaned a hoof on the table, “The Raven’s Eye placed her trust and faith in her helmspony. How would you feel if the Revenge asked the same of you, and then somepony asked you to hoof over her heart? Would you do it?”

Gretel stared at him angrily. What the hell did he know? He wasn’t the Captain, he didn’t understand what it was like to have a bond with the ship the way she did, and an incomplete bond at that. When Salty had talked about the heart, and then to actually find out he had it…dear Goddess, it was taking all of her will power just to contain herself. Excitement burned in Gretel’s veins like fire, the thrill of adventure calling to her. To make her ship whole, as she should have been at the time of the Empire…how could anypony say no to that?! But still, as much as she hated to admit it, Doc had a point. The more she thought about, the more she looked into those sad old eyes of the brown and cream stallion…she sighed...it would be like kicking a foal. She couldn’t do that to him, it would be like stealing the very memory of love from somepony she care about.

“No.” Gretel shook her head sorrowfully, “Salty, I’m sorry. Forgive me, I got carried away and should have considered your feelings. The Raven’s heart belongs to her beloved helmspony.” She passed him another brandy, “Keep her safe, Salty.”

The old sailor nodded, his eyes staring off into some unseen past.

“On to the next topic of conversation,” Gretel said suddenly, trying to change the mood and also divert her own attention from the ache in her heart, “This business about unicorns.” She thumped a hoof on the table, “It appears to be, I’m surprised to hear myself saying, an absolute load of bollocks.”

Strata nudged Doc, “Told you!”

“But…” Salty chipped in, “Fire Light, that unicorn, ‘e…” he trailed off. What had the unicorn done? He’d brought aboard some barrels of venom which they knew, they all knew, were deadly. They’d all had a hoof in collecting that evil fluid for the mage, and yet nopony had thought about the risk to the Raven, had they? No, all they’d thought about, including himself, had been bits. But then, the barrel…if he’d tied it off, if he’d gotten rid of them when he first knew they’d been leaking…

Salty rubbed his eyes. His body was trembling, as it did whenever he thought of that time,

“Cap’n, that thing were poisoning the crew, I saw ‘im.”

Gretel nodded to the blue stallion with the wire framed spectacles, “Doc? Any thoughts?”

Doc sat on his haunches and nodded slowly, “I’m sorry Salty, I don’t think he was.”

Salty stared at him incredulously, “I saw ‘im!”

“I know you did,” Doc said taking off his spectacles and rubbing his muzzle, “and I wouldn’t pretend to know with absolute certainty exactly what that unicorn was up to. However, from what you’ve said, I believe that on the balance of probabilities, he most likely wasn’t trying to murder the crew. That said, I will hasten to add that none of us are ever likely to know the true story behind Fire Lights intentions.”

Doc took a mouthful of his brandy before continuing,

“I know a little of the history from that time, more specifically a classic story which new ships surgeons are taught as a warning from history. The ‘Fade’ as Salty knew it, was a plague that had numerous names: ‘Green Death’, ‘Lung Rot’, to name just two. Essentially though, they all referred to the same thing. It would appear every decade or so, mostly confined to coastal areas, but would disappear again in a few months. Deaths were most common amongst the young, the weak, the elderly and so on. One year however, everything changed, and the plague became particularly virulent. Nopony knows why, although I have my own suspicions.” He scratched his mane, “Anyway, the Llamalian Empire was at its height then, and the worst hit by the plague by far. If you look past all the prophesies of doom and religious ‘retribution’ nonsense written in the histories, you’ll find that the Empire was mostly built up around the coast where the population was concentrated.” He shrugged, “Fertile ground for the Fade to spread.”

Gretel peered at blue stallion, “That’s all very interesting Doc, but it doesn’t tell us what that unicorn was doing with the barrels.”

“Oh, well, that can be easily explained.” Doc said with a sardonic smile.

Gretel looked puzzled, “It can?”

Doc nodded, “Yes, you see there was a belief at that time that the venom extracted from Wyvern’s, already noted for having medicinal properties, could be distilled and used as a cure for the plague. Whether it actually worked or not, nopony could ever say with any certainty; the plague disappeared as fast it began and so far as I know, has never reappeared since.” He shrugged, “I think it may have had more to do with an improvement in public hygiene standards and the Llamalian Empire’s new sewerage system that they brought in, together with aquaducts for fresh water.”

Gretel blinked in surprise, “You mean, you think that this ‘Fire Light’ was actually…”

“-Trying to help?” Doc cut in, “Yes, I think he was. Although it’s doubtful he did little more than…”

“Oh Goddesses…” It was Salty, “What…what ‘ave I done? Me friends…me ship…I killed ‘em! I killed all of ‘em!” The old stallion was shaking in distress, “Me old girl, me Raven…Oh, love, forgive me…” He suddenly sprang to his hooves, “It’s my fault! IT’S ALL MY FAULT!”

In a wild flurry of hooves, Salty rushed for the door.

“STOP HIM!” Gretel yelled, but Salty’s hoof was already on the door.

A glow of magic quickly surrounded the doorframe, holding it fast while the brown and cream stallion pulled desperately at it,

“LET ME BE!”

“Salty! For the Goddesses sake, get a bloody grip of yourself, pony!” Gretel advanced on him and gripped his shoulders, “You didn’t know any of this, and we still don’t know for certain exactly what Fire Light was really doing, its only speculation. The only one who knew the truth went down with the ship! But you did more than anypony to try to save her, and you did, you saved her heart.” She stared into the distraut stallion’s eyes, “You saved the ship, Salty, you saved the Raven.”

“I…” Salty hung his head, “Me shipmates…”

“They were already dead,” Doc said quietly, “there was no known cure, Salty and on board a vessel, it would have gone through the crew like wildfire. Death was usually within hours, a day or two at most. How Bright Days stayed on his hooves all that time was a miracle, but the Captain’s right, you did your duty and saved the heart of your ship. If you hadn’t, she’d have been lost forever.”

“But ‘ow come I be fine, ‘ow come I be alive and they be dead?”

Doc shrugged, “Natural immunity, diet, who can say?” he smiled sadly, “If I knew the answer, Salty, i’d be a better doctor than I am now. I’m just a ships surgeon, nothing more.”

Salty looked ready to collapse. Gretel nodded to Doc and Strata who took him to one side and spoke to him gently whilst he sobbed quietly. She opened the door to the deck,

“Mister Haggis? Would you be so good as to come here for a minute?”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

The helmspony trotted into the cabin following Gretel. “Salty’s a little upset right now,” she said looking at the old patchwork helmspony, “would you take him below and spend some time with him?”

Haggis nodded quietly, “Aye Cap’n, I’ll do that.”

Gretel watched sadly as the two old friends walked slowly from her cabin and onto the deck. Closing the door behind them she felt like kicking herself. Why the hell had she brought up that subject in front of him? She should have realised how he would react if…Damn it! She wasn’t a mind reader! She couldn’t have known what Doc was going to say, could she? Still, she should have had at least some idea after hearing the old sailor’s tale; so much of it just didn’t add up. But like the Raven’s Eye herself, the truth behind it all had been lost to the sea…forever.

“Gretel?”

The red coated mare looked up wearily, “Yes, Doc?”

“What about unicorns on ship?”

“Unicorns?” Gretel’s mind was reeling with everything that had been going on. She needed time, time to think about all of this. She leaned back in her chair. There something…something in the tale that…and then it came to her,

“Wind mages.”

“What?” Doc asked in surprise.

“Wind mages.” Gretel said again, “You heard Salty’s story, he said that the Raven had been looking to take a wind mage aboard. So, just what the hell is a wind mage? Other than what it sounds like of course.”

Strata raised his hoof, “It’s a unicorn who can control wind, or more specifically, one who specialises in wind.”

“How come I’ve never heard of them before?” Gretel asked.

“Probably because of the widespread belief that we’re bad luck I suppose.” Strata grinned expansively.

“Oh Goddesses…” Gretel facehoofed, “The most notorious warning story about unicorns on ships comes from…”

Everypony in the room agreed,

“Salty.”

Gretel needed another brandy, “Goddess dammit! Will somepony please tell me how the hell I keep running out! It’s like the blasted ships soaking it up!”

“Her Captain is.” Doc muttered, receiving a withering glare from the red mare.

“One of these days, Doc,” Gretel said, her voice lowering dangerously, “I’m going to take you over my knee and give you damned good spanking.”

Strata burst out laughing while Doc flushed as red as a beetroot.

“Never Mind! I don’t want to know!” Gretel called over her shoulder, heading for the door, “I need to have a word with the crew about this bloody unicorn nonsense and then we can…”

There was a knock at the door - it was the huge yellow mare, Cleat, with her customary expression of barely restrained rage,

“Captain, there’s a visitor here to see you.” She peered over her shoulder, “It’s a pegasus.”

“Gentlecolts…” Gretel nodded to the two stallions and trotted out to meet the visitor.

The ship was nearly ready for departure, the decks scrubbed and clean, rigging repaired and ropes renewed. Across on the other dock, the Wind Wraith looked like a new vessel altogether; even her sails looked new. Perhaps there was something in what Doc had said about the connection between the ship and her crew. There was certainly a connection between her and the Revenge. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what poor Salty had gone through with losing the Ravens Eye. It must have been like losing a loved one, like losing…she shook her head. The image of that blasted white pest appeared in her mind at the worst possible times. Fortunately, the grinning pegasus on her deck was likely to be an efficient, if possibly unwelcome distraction. Come to think of it, how the hell had this…mare…found them?

Cleat snarled beside her, her hoof reaching for her cutlass,

“Who the hell said you could come aboard? I told you to wait on the dockside!”

“Yeah, well that was sooo boring.” the cheeky purple pegasus replied, “I wanted to see what a flying ship looked like at the business end.”

“You’ll get the business end of my blade, you little…”

Gretel cleared her throat and lifted a hoof, “-thank you Cleat, you may leave our guest with my now. Please attend to your duties.”

“Aye, aye Cap’n.”

The Master at Arms stalked away, casting a warning glance over her shoulder at the newcomer who gave her a wink with one of her big magenta eyes,

“Phwoar! Now there’s a big lass!”

Gretel gave the pegasus a hard look, her voice carrying all the authority of her position,

“Who are you, and what do you want?”

“Straight to business eh?” The pegasus shrugged, “Nopony know how to have a bit of fun these days.” She sat on her haunches and looked at Gretel levelly, “My name is Flight Captain Harrier, I believe we have a mutual acquaintance, Captain Gretel of the King Sombra’s Revenge.”

Gretel heart leaped in her chest, “You know who I am, so what? And who is this ‘mutual acquaintance?” She was expecting the answer…

“Oh, a certain Mister Chalk Dust and his friend Mister Bracken.” The pegasus replied, “Apparently, they were looking for you.”

“Looking…”

“-For you, yes.” Harrier nodded, “Although why they thought they’d find you at the fortress of the four winds is beyond me.”

Gretel’s heart leaped, “The fortress? Dear Goddess, what the hell made him think…” she facehoofed. Of course, she’d told him they went there from time to time to make deliveries of exotic goods, hadn’t she? What a bloody fool!

“Quite a hoofful isn’t he!” Harrier chuckled, “Cute though…” she gave the Captain a knowing smile, “I bet he’s got a soft…”

“-I asked what you wanted, Flight Captain.” Gretel snapped, “Are you going to tell me or not? I have work to do.”

“Oh!” Harrier said tapping herself on the side of the head, “I nearly forgot!” She reached into her pannier, extracting a small scroll, “Here…”

Gretel opened the message, casting a withering glance at the smirking creature before her. Who in Equestria was this? And how did she know Chalky? She didn’t like the sound of this one little bit…

Dear Captain Gretel,

I wish to invite you to meet with myself and my colleagues to discuss a mutually beneficial trading proposal. Should you wish to accept, please inform the bearer of this message who will arrange the meeting on our behalf.

Kind Regards,

D

“’D’?” Gretel turned the scroll over in her hooves before hoofing it back to Harrier, “This tells me nothing.”

“Well of course, duh!” Harrier sniggered, “If the message fell into the wrong hooves, they’d know who we were and what we were doing, silly!”

Gretel felt her eye begin to twitch. This…this pegasus…thing! Wait, she knew a pegasus already…Cyclone! She may be able to communicate properly with this blasted creature.

“Captain Gretel,” the purple pegasus mare said suddenly, “Colonel Dray has invited you to meet with him. We are what you might like think of as…freedom fighters.”

“Celestians…” Gretel said levelly, “Haven’t you heard? The war’s over, finished, ended, you lost Flight Captain. Go home and stop playing soldiers.”

The pegasus shook her head, her snow white mane blowing in the light breeze, “It’s not over, Captain Gretel, not over by a long shot. Your coltfriend knows it too, that’s why he’s with us.”

Gretel narrowed her eyes. “Like Bollocks he is! You said he was looking for me, so what’s really going on here, Harrier? Looking to use Chalky as leveredge?” She laughed ironically, “Yes! That’s it, isn’t it! ‘Do as we say or we’ll harm him.’” Gretel leaned forward and snarled viciously, “Now you listen to me, you little bitch…if anything, ANYTHING happens to chalky, I’ll annihilate you and your scabrous friends from the face of Equestria. There’ll be nothing left of you to bury, not even one lousy feather. Do we understand each other?”

Harrier gave her a wink, “That’s the spirit!” Gretel had to stop herself from lunging out and strangling the damnable creature. “We won’t harm Chalky, Captain, he’s a soldier of the Princess, like me.” Harrier’s tone was suddenly serious, “But we need him right now. In fact we need every hoof we can get and if that means using him as a means to make you come to us, then…” she shrugged, “Yep, we will.”

Gretel’s anger flared, “You flying rat! I’ll…”

“Ah, ah!” Harrier said, holding up a hoof, “I need an answer, Captain. The army will wait until I return and then they’re moving out. The choice is yours, you can meet us now, or not. If you decided to find us later…” she shrugged, “well, I don’t know, that’s up to the Colonel.”

Gretel stomped her hoof in fury, “You come aboard my ship uninvited, you have the audacity to use my…my crewpony’s name to force me to do your bidding…”

“-It’s your choice, Captain.” Harrier interrupted, “What’s your decision?”

Gretel took a step back, suddenly unsure. To rush off with the pegasus to find Chalk would probably endanger the whole ship and her crew, but to abandon him could mean…She sighed,

“Give me the location.”

“At a girl!” Harrier laughed, and hoofed over a roughly written note with the location on it. She had a few days, no more. She had to think about this. Gretel closed her eyes,

“Harrier?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Get the buck off my ship.”

Gretel stalked back to her cabin as the pegasus flew away into the cloud. That damned creature! That bloody, damned, vile little bitch! How dare she? How dare she?! Gretel slammed the door shut only to have somepony knock on it a second later,

“WHAT?!”

Salty balked, stepping back in shock.

“Salty? Oh, look…I’m sorry,” Gretel rubbed her eyes with her foreleg, “come in, please.”

Goddess, what the hell was it now? Couldn’t something go right for once, just bloody once? Gretel sank into her chair, staring into the eyes of the old sailor and…Mister Haggis? Oh Goddess…Doc and Strata had come in too. Hell, why not make a party of it?! She waved a hoof,

“Please Salty, you wanted to speak to me?”

“Um…aye, Cap’n.” the old sailor began, looking to his friend for support. He cleared his throat, “I…that is, Haggis an’ me been talkin’ see.”

“Yes?”

“Er…an’…I hope ye don’t mind Cap’n, but we been speakin’ with the Revenge an’…well…I’ve decided,” Salty gave a shy smile, “I wants ‘er to ‘ave the Raven’s heart.”

Gretel froze. Her eyes going wide, “Salty…”

Salty held up a hoof, “No, Cap’n, look, Haggis an’ me, we both be helmsponies see, an’ we can see ‘er, feel ‘er like, y’know, through the helm. I knows from me days aboard the Raven that the Revenge be missin’ a part o’ ‘erself, see. But…Look, I don’t know if’n this will ‘elp ‘er, but…I be willin’ ter try.” He looked at Haggis, who nodded his agreement, “The Revenge be willin’ ter try too, if’n it be agreeable with yerself o’course Cap’n.”

Gretel didn’t know what to say. For Salty to do this, and so soon, it must have been the Revenge herself, with a little help from the enigmatic Haggis no doubt, that had brought him round to making such a monumental decision. Salty looked…relieved somehow, as if a weight had been lifted from him. She guessed it was probably all the years of living with what had happened, and not knowing what to do with the heart of the Raven. She walked over to him and wrapped her forelegs around him,

“Salty…you are a greater pony than I could ever be.”

“Oh!” he blushed, “Cap’n, I…”

She leaned down and planted a kiss on his muzzle, “Goddess bless you, Salty.” Gretel felt close to tears, “I’m so sorry I tricked you into telling your story before the crew, I hadn’t realised just how much you’d been through before you came to us. I know now why my father treasured you so much and why the Raven loved you as much as she did.”

Salty sniffed back a tear,

“Thank ye Cap’n, that means more ‘n I can say.”

Gretel tousled his mane with a smile before addressing Strata, “Mister Strata, you are welcome aboard my vessel as her wind mage, for as long as you wish.”

The indigo stallion scrubbed his mane as Doc nudged him happily, “Well, um…thanks, er…Cap’n.”

Doc lifted his hoof, “So what now, Captain?”

Harrier’s message replayed through Gretel’s mind: Chalky, the army, all that stuff about trying to find her. Oh, that bloody fool! What was he thinking, traipsing into the mountains?! She shook her head as she walked back to her table and unfurled the map. Chalk wasn’t in any danger, at least, not yet, and the ship…the ship always came first. Besides, nopony threatened her…nopony! And at least she had a name…‘Colonel Dray’ was it? Yes…she’d catch up with the good Colonel, and then he’d see the folly of threatening the Captain of the King Sombra’s Revenge. Gretel gritted her teeth and slammed her hoof onto the map,

“Mister Haggis.”

“Aye, Cap’n?”

Gretel looked up at him from under her brows, “Lay in a course for Spurs Anvil. We’re leaving within the hour. Salty, find Captain Cyclone and send her to me. Doc, you and I are going to explain about our new wind mage to the crew. Mister Strata, you go and do…” she waved a hoof nonchalantly, “unicorn…’things’.”

Strata laughed, “Aye, aye, Cap’n!”

Comments

[Bluespectre]

6991363 Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I've just posted another chapter in the last few minutes, and i'm trying to do one per day until it's all up.

[That One Brony Dude]

Why do I get the feeling that Pinkie Pie is a reincarnation of Flight Captain Harrier?