Past Actions, Future Consequences

by Rill

Tranquility - Part 2

Below deck, Shadow jumped onto the small bed he had woken up on, the aches and stiffness from his last sleeping place slowly melting as he took a moment to enjoy the bed’s padding. Letting out a small sigh as he opened his eyes, the colt watched the striped earth pony – zebra, he reminded himself – move about the small room as he grabbed a few items and set them on the table in the middle of the room. “Can I ask you a question?”

“I don’t know, can you?” Zetani smiled at his young patient’s raised eyebrow. “Sure.”

“Where are you from?”

The doctor paused as he thought about his answer. “Zebrica; it’s a small country south of Equestria, near the equator.”

“What’s it like?”

Zetani smiled as he put a flashlight equipped headband on. “Imagine a land covered in grass as tall as a full grown pony. It’s hot in the winter, obscenely hot in the summer and raining the other two seasons. Zebrica has many different species in it that live together in relative peace and quiet. While I doubt you could pronounce my village’s name, the best translation I can come up with is River’s Bend.” Zetani turned on the flashlight as he started his exam with Shadow’s eyes. “Growing up, I was the second of seven kids. Beautiful eyes by the way.”

“Thanks?”

“It was a compliment. I bet the fillies were all over you.” The doctor added as he began to comb Shadow’s mane.

“Not really.”

“Oh, so you were chasing them?” The lone zebra smiled at the look of disgust on his patient’s face. “Anyways since I was the oldest son, my dad would take me out into the grasslands, teaching me how to find food or medicine.”

“How did you end up here?”

Shadow winced as Zetani sighed. From the older pony’s face, he knew he had hit a sore spot. “My father and I got into a rather nasty fight” he said before Shadow could say anything. “Like I said, most of the species in Zebrica live in relative peace but things were starting to heat up between another zebra village and the elephants. When my village’s chief decided to send warriors to help our sister village, my father volunteered me.” Zetani moved to inspect Shadow’s tail as he continued. “I was never interested in fighting or being a warrior and when I told him later than night that I wouldn’t fight, well…

My older sister had left home a year earlier and after that fight, I decided to follow her example. So I packed what little I had and left as soon as it got dark. Eventually I made it to a port and signed onto the first ship that would take me, which happened to be this one.” Moving around to his patient’s front, Zetani reached up to unzip the young colt’s vest. He got the zipper half way down before the colt noticed what was happening. Before he could blink, the ship’s doctor found himself stumbling backwards as a golden shield shimmered where he had just been standing. Rubbing his nose as he picked himself off the floor, Zetani winced as he looked at the colt, who stared back unapologetically. “Okay… keep it on.”

“Sorry, but this comes off for nopony.” Shadow stated matter-of-factly as the shield dropped and the zipper moved back to his throat.

“Can I at least take a look at your legs?” Zetani asked as he approached the young stowaway. Shadow shrugged indifferently as the barrier between the two disappeared. “Thank you.” As gently as he could, the striped stallion unwound the cloth bandages. “What happened?”

“There was a fire. I survived.”

“I’m sorry.” Zetani said, surprised by the emotionless, matter-of-fact response. Looking at the revealed flesh, the zebra was surprised by how clean the burns were. Serving on the Tranquility for two years had taught him plenty and he had seen his fair share of burns.

“My dad ran the town apothecary. After the fire, I broke in and found a potion for the infection.” Shadow said, answering the healer’s unspoken question.

“Broke in?”

“Kinda had to since everypony thinks I’m dead.” Shadow replied. “Long story, don’t ask.” He added at the doctor’s raised eyebrow.

“No burn potions?”

“Not much need for one. They tend to go bad after a week and they’re easy enough to make.”

Shrugging, Zetani looked over the healing wounds a final time before wrapping them in fresh bandages. “Good news is that whatever you took definitely did the trick. Your burns are healing nicely, and the skin should be back to near normal by the time we reach Equestria.” Stowing the few pieces of equipment he had grabbed, the doctor turned to the colt. “I am also happy to report that you are parasite and pest free, though I think you already knew this.” Coughing slightly at his patient’s raised eyebrow, Zetani glanced toward the door before an idea sprang to mind. “Perhaps we should find you someplace to sleep.”

In the crew quarters, the conversations among the lounging ponies died as Zetani and Shadow appeared. Shadow could feel everypony’s eyes on him as he stood there looking around. Across the room he could see High Tide glaring at him. Around him, the mix of ponies stared back for a few more seconds before slowly returning to whatever they had been doing. Sighing in relief, the young colt followed the ship’s lone zebra as he maneuvered around the swaying slings. Stopping at a pair of empty hammocks, the doctor gestured to the one on the right. “This one is yours. You can toss your stuff in the hoof locker beneath it.” Nodding, Shadow unbuckled his saddle bags, checking the protective spell on them before setting them in the indicated box. Next to him, Zetani slowly sat down on his hammock, letting out a contented sigh as he did. “It takes some getting used to, but after a long hot day on deck, you’ll be longing for this.”

Groaning, Shadow slowly lowered himself into the waiting piece of canvas, “Better than sleeping on the floor.” Letting his head slowly sink into the thin pillow, the young colt stared at the ceiling as his bed slowly swayed side to side as the ship rode the waves. Thinking, Shadow found himself strangely empty. He had managed to get off the island, by complete accident admittedly, but now that he had gotten off, what next? Where did he go from here? He couldn’t stay in Equestria; that was for sure. The last thing he wanted was to be anywhere near the solar tyrant and being in any of her lands was too close for comfort. Around the small room, he could hear the other crewmembers talking, his name being mentioned more times than he cared to count. It didn’t matter to him what they said at that point. With everything that had happened recently, with the possible exception of Zetani, he was too tired to care what they thought. Turning over, Shadow didn’t resist as his eyes slowly closed, surrendering himself to blissfully dreamless sleep.

Shadow slowly felt himself come around. Feeling his body slowly wake he lay motionless in the hammock, the gentle sway of the canvas sling calling him back to oblivion. Opening his eyes, the room around him lay dark with the only light filtering in through a hoof-full of previously unseen windows and except for the sound of the ocean outside and the occasional cough or snore, the room lay quiet. Slowly sitting up, the young colt slowly shook his head, trying to clear out the bits of sleep that lingered like a party guest that had overstayed their welcome. Stretching, Shadow had to hold himself back from groaning in pleasure as he could feel stiff muscles slowly relax and loosen. Twisting his back, the disguised alicorn could feel his wings slowly start to cramp. He knew this would happen when he had climbed into the canvas sling; every time he had ever slept with his vest on resulted in wing cramps the next morning. While they would eventually go away, that knowledge did little to comfort him since he knew he’d be sleeping like this for Luna only knew how long.

As quietly as he could, Shadow slowly let himself slide out of the hammock. Before he could stop himself, he felt a hoof step in something cold that felt like lump filled mud. Biting back a few choice words, he slowly channeled energy to his horn; a soft golden glow slowly filled the room. Looking down, Shadow found himself standing on a plate, his hoof planted firmly in a pile of mush that he didn’t know if he could describe if he wanted to. Hearing a few groans from those around him, he dampened the glow from his horn until he could barely make out anything within a few hoof lengths. Scraping the mush from his hoof back onto the plate, Shadow picked it and the nearby cup of water up with his magic. Silently glad that the world seemed to be in a better mood, the colt slowly made his way across the room, learning quickly to step in time with the sway of the ship and the waves. At the stairs, Shadow took a moment to catch his breath. He wasn’t used to using more than one spell at a time and he could already feel a small headache that he knew from experience would only get worse the harder he pushed himself. Dimming his horn until it was almost completely out, he slowly climbed the steps as he focused on not dropping the plate and cup. At the top of the first set of steps, Shadow reared up onto his hind legs before pushing down on the simple latch on the door and pushing it open with his head. He could have used a bit of magic to open it but with his magic split two different ways already, he didn’t want to risk breaking the plate and using his mouth was out of the question as far as he was concerned.

Stepping into the open, Shadow paused for a moment, surveying the open deck before him. Above, the moon shone down full and bright, its light bathing the ship in its gentle glow. Extinguishing the light from his horn, the young colt gently closed the door behind him with a bit of magic, making sure to set the latch back in place. Above the lapping of the waves, he could hear the strains of a song slowly filter down from above. Mentally shrugging to himself, Shadow climbed the nearby set of steps. At the top, he could see the captain at the wheel, standing on his back hooves while his front hooves grasped the handles coming from a wheel that was almost as large as the ship’s master. Standing there in silence, Shadow watched a smile spread over the stallion’s face as he began to sing, not loudly as if trying to impress the world with his voice but quietly and gently, like his mom and dad used to sing to him and his sister at night when they were younger.

As he watched, the captain slowly trailed off as he seemed to search his memory for the words of the next verse. Apparently not finding them, the older pony shrugged as he turned his head to stretch “Couldn’t sleep?”

It took Shadow a moment to realize that the captain was talking to him “Something like that.”

Gently chuckling to himself Main Stay jerked his head to the side, inviting the younger pony to join him. “I can’t blame ya” he said as his unexpected guest joined him. “Canvas takes some getting used to.” Looking across the deck of his ship, Main Stay let his trained eyes wander over the deck, noting the odd piece of loose rigging, a few crates knocked loose by the storm that, somehow, hadn’t gotten washed overboard. Glancing down at the pony next to him he watched the young colt look over the plate before him, his face screwing up in disgust after taking a quick sniff. “Believe me, it’s best to hold your nose and gag it down. Smelling it won’t help any.” Shadow looked up for a moment before grabbing a portion of the mush with his magic and swallowing it as quickly as possible. Main Stay laughed at the face the colt made. While it was agreed among the crew that the cook wasn’t exactly Equestria’s best, he certainly wasn’t the worst, as anypony who had tried Main Stay’s cooking could attest. Smiling at the crew’s threat to mutiny should he ever cook for them again, Main Stay’s mind wandered to earlier that day in his cabin. “The name’s Main Stay.”

“Shadow Dancer.”

“Shadow Dancer?”

“Yeah, apparently I was more active than my sister before we were born and my mom thought I’d be a dancer or something.”

“Ah.” Main Stay let the sound of the ocean wash over them for a while. “I’m sorry about your family.”

Shadow’s head whipped around faster than Main Stay thought possible. “How did you-”

“Know? I saw it in your eyes earlier. You didn’t tell me but you didn’t need to.” He said as he turned the ship’s wheel slightly. “I could see the pain behind your eyes as clearly as writing in a book. I doubt the others saw it though. Only a pony who’s faced Tartarus, only to survive and lose everything in the process can see that kind of pain in another.”

“What happened to you?”

Main Stay paused at the simple, innocent question. Did the colt need to know about what made him wake up screaming most nights? “That’s a nightmare for another night.” Next to him, Shadow seemed to think about it for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know what happened, but if you ever want to talk about it…”

“Thanks.” Shadow said as he slowly stood. Leaving his cup and plate of half-eaten foulness behind, he slowly made his way down the steps he had come up. Moving to a shadow filled corner by the door he looked back, making sure the captain couldn’t see him. Happy that he was alone for the moment, Shadow quietly tugged on his vest’s zipper. Slipping it off, the young alicorn slowly spread his wings, a smile slowly growing on his face as he felt the gentle breeze flow through his feathers. Closing his eyes, it almost felt like he was flying, the world and all its problems far below him as he soared through the open sky, seemingly dancing. As nice as it felt, the smile slowly faded as he remembered what, or rather who, was now missing from his life. Quietly flapping his wings a few times to work out the cramps, Shadow slipped them back into the hidden pockets in his vest. With a quick zip, he was just another unicorn as far as the world was concerned.

Looking up, he could see far more stars than he had ever imagined were possible twinkling above. Climbing the steps again, Shadow laid down along the back railing behind where the captain stood. As he lay there, Shadow watched the ship’s master do his job, the older pony occasionally breaking out into gentle singing as the mood took him. Lying there, the young colt could feel himself warming up to the earth pony like he had with the doctor. How he had known about Shadow’s past was beyond the alicorn. Sure the captain could be telling the truth, that he’d seen it in Shadow’s eyes, but he had told Zetani, and it wouldn’t take much to imagine the zebra telling his Captain what he had learned. It wouldn’t be the first time that something like that had happened to Shadow. Yet as he thought about it, he found himself at odds with himself. Part of him wanted to believe the captain and trust him. The stallion had offered his condolences and had then let the subject drop. He didn’t try to explain himself or offer any number of trite phrases other than a very simple ‘I’m sorry’. Yet as he felt himself relax, another part screamed at him to not be such an idiot. Hadn’t he learned anything while growing up, especially when it came to earth ponies? Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts Shadow left the argument for another time as he closed his eyes. What energy he had woken up with had quickly disappeared, and before long he was asleep once again.

Shadow stood next to the Tranquility’s master as the older pony held the ship’s wheel steady. Across the ship’s main deck, the crew lounged as they ate whatever it was that the cook had thrown together. Looking down at the plate he had practically licked clean, the youngest pony on board silently wondered if the cook, having finally gotten fed up with the comments on his food, had decided to teach the crew a lesson they wouldn’t forget by throwing everything he knew about cooking overboard, accidentally creating a meal that, while as indescribable as any other, was in fact quite delicious and earned the middle aged pony more praise in one day than he had earned in the five years he had so far served on board. Even High Tide, who still had yet to even remotely thaw to the young stowaway, had seemed to relent, if ever so slightly, by holding his tongue when the young colt had sat next to him during dinner. Smiling for probably the first time he could think of since being orphaned a week earlier, Shadow closed his eyes as a light breeze blew across the ship, his grey mane and tail playfully fluttering in the wind.

“Enjoying this?”

Shadow looked up at the older pony next to him, a knowing smile on the captain’s face. “Absolutely” He replied, a small shiver of pleasure running itself down his body.

“Good.”

Down below, most of the crew seemed to be doing the same as the sun slowly set behind them. Spray and Sea Breeze were engaged in a friendly, though never-the-less vicious, game of poker. A couple of other crew members were watching, occasionally earning a nasty glare when they offered their own advice. Overhead, the Tranquility’s pegasi had taken the welcome down time to fly for the fun of it, breaking out in impromptu games of Tag or Steal the Feather or just flying above the ship like a flock of seagulls. Glancing down, Shadow saw the door leading to the crew quarters swing open, the second mate stepping through a moment later. Held almost reverently in his magic was a well-cared for wooden case. As the door closed behind the officer, Shadow heard a number of the crew cheer as the older unicorn appeared. Tilting his head at the crew’s behavior, Shadow walked down the steps, his plate never leaving his side as he joined the small crowd around High Tide. Pushing his way in until he could see, the colt watched as the larger pony gently set the case down before flipping the latches to reveal a violin that looked like it had just been bought from its maker.

Smiling, High Tide settled the instrument below his chin before drawing the bow across the strings. The single note that sang out seemed to hit the gathered crew like a wave as they slowly backed away to give the violinist some space. Without any introduction, the second mate dove into the first song, the bow sawing back and forth over the instrument while the strings flexed under their master’s magic. For his part, Shadow barely managed to keep his jaw off the deck as he watched. How could this pony, a pony whose only purpose seemed to be to make Shadow’s life a waking nightmare of shouts and curses when he wasn’t making advances on the mares of the crew, create something with such beauty as this? Looking up, some of the pegasi seemed to be thinking the same thing as they listened, while others seemed completely unsurprised. As the song came to an end, the entire crew made their appreciation known as the musician bowed.

“I didn’t know you played!”

High Tide looked at the speaker. “Of course you didn’t. I don’t play for just anypony.”

“How long have you been playing?”

“Since before I was in the guard.”

“You were in the Royal Guard?” Shadow asked, realizing his mistake as the words left his mouth.

The older unicorn glanced at the colt “Yes, I was. Of course, this was long before you were a twinge in your father’s loins and I was damned good at my job before I left for something more challenging.”

“I thought you left before they could throw you out for multiple sexual harassment complaints?”

The officer’s face flushed red as his head whipped around, searching for the offending speaker. His demands for the coward to show himself fell flat as whoever had spoken decided that for the moment, silence would be golden.

As his tormentor searched for his newest victim, Shadow glanced at the older pony’s horn, his eyes having caught something. Sure enough, there was a slight blackening around the tip of the horn that ran down a few inches to the horn’s second spiral. His eyes narrowing, Shadow forced his way out of the crowd, his anger slowly growing as he heard the bastard continue to talk.

Nearby, the ship’s lone zebra was leaning against the railing, copying the text from the small notebook that he had been loaned as the mare next to him translated it. He looked up as the notebook’s owner stomped by. “Everything alright Shadow?”

“I’m fine.” Shadow said as he forced himself to calm down, if only for the moment.

Zetani knew the colt was lying but shrugged it off. If it was anything important, he’d likely find out later “Just asking. Can you take my plate with you?”

Wordlessly the young colt grabbed the plate as he left. Setting the two plates on a stack of their brothers, he had to force himself to not rip the door off its hinges as he opened it, though he felt no compunction as he slammed it shut behind him. Within seconds, he was walking among the gently swinging canvas slings, the stench of ozone slowly growing as he neared his hammock. Not having to guess what had happened, Shadow flipped the top of his trunk open, his saddlebags still where they belonged. A quick check confirmed what the stench in the air told him. The bags were drawing in the ambient magic around them as the spell he had put on them several months ago recharged itself. Closing the trunk, he found himself walking deeper into the ship until he was in the cargo hold, the only place he knew where he’d be left alone.

That bastard!

What in the damned name of the solar tyrant did he think Shadow had that was so valuable that he’d try to break into his bags to steal it? Above, Shadow could hear strains of some nameless melody filter down from the ship’s top deck. Taking his frustration out on the crate that he had taken shelter in a week earlier, Shadow felt himself slowly calm down. Even though that bastard of an officer had tried to steal from him, Shadow knew it had failed. The spell protecting his bags was one that he had created himself and was understandably proud of. The spell itself was deceptively simple and had yet to be beaten, as numerous ponies back home had found out the hard and rather painful way. The ozone and the scorch mark on High Tide’s horn were the tell-tale signs of a failed attempt to open the bags and would happen to anypony who the spell detected wasn’t allowed to open the bags, which now consisted of everypony. Smiling to himself, Shadow wished he had been there to see the officer get hit by the bag’s sudden discharge.

Before he could laugh at the mental image of the bastard reacting to the spell, Shadow felt the deck beneath him heave. Trying to regain his balance, the Tranquility rocked again, this time much more violently, knocking the colt completely off balance and sending him crashing into an unforgiving crate. Shaking his head, Shadow felt the ship buck a third time, a crate above breaking free of the rope holding it down only to crash within inches of the hold’s lone pony. Kicking the pile of brand new firewood aside, Shadow was rewarded with a jet of ice cold water to the face.

Sputtering in shock and surprise, the young orphan’s horn glowed as a golden shield shimmered to life in front of him. Shaking the water from his face Shadow looked up, finally noticing the crack in the hull. Grunting in pain from the rough landing, he forced himself to his hooves. Channeling more energy through his horn, the colt pushed back against the stream of water until his shield was against the wall. Ignoring the water spraying around him, Shadow stared at his shield. Slowly it began to grow and thicken until it covered the crack in the hull. Closing his eyes for a moment, the young pony visualized the spell protecting his saddlebags. Scanning the spell, he found the part of the spell he wanted and hastily memorizing it, added it to the shield.

Panting, he waited a moment before slowly letting his hold on the shield go, smiling as the magical barrier stayed in place. Wiping his face, Shadow felt his ears turn, the sound of screams and shouting piercing the ceiling above. Feeling the ship rock again, Shadow ran through the maze that was the hold as fast as he could. Around him, the cargo shook and rocked against the nets and ropes holding it down. Hearing a rope snap like a whip, Shadow threw a shield above himself, the rogue crate shattering against the magical barrier. Throwing himself through the open doorway, Shadow threw the shield at the free swinging door, slamming it shut as a number of crates crashed to the floor. Picking himself up, he ran for the stairs. Ignoring the stairway that seemed intent on beating him to death, Shadow crawled up the wooden planks before throwing the door to the main deck open.

Bolting through the opening, the young alicorn skidded to a halt. Around the ship, ponies were screaming. Above him, Main Stay was roaring at the top of his lungs while his eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks. Shadow followed the captain’s gaze and felt his heart stop while his stomach tried to swan dive into the deck beneath him.

Oh dear sweet Luna…

Above the ship, the creature loomed. Shadow had to tilt his head nearly all the way back before he could completely see the creature’s monstrous head. At least a hundred feet above the deck, the triangular head hovered, the creature’s four eyes blinking in sequence as it surveyed the ship below. Getting a hold of himself, Shadow ran up the nearby steps before coming to a halt next to the captain.
“Sir, we got a leak in the hold!”

Main Stay snapped back to reality, “How bad?”

“I got it patched for the moment, though I don’t know how long it’ll last!”

“Great. Can you cast a shield?” Shadow nodded vigorously. “Good. Get to High Tide and he’ll tell you what to do!”

Running down the stairs, Shadow could hear the captain shouting orders to the pegasi above the ship. Glancing to the side, Shadow threw himself to the deck. Above, a massive limb thicker than a century old tree whipped overhead, barely missing his head. Hearing a high pitched scream, the young colt looked up in time to see one of the crew, a blond maned unicorn get hit. The pony’s scream ended abruptly as his broken body was sent flying over the side. Before Shadow or anypony could react, the creature’s head dropped from the sky. With its mouth wide open, the monster disappeared beneath the waves, taking the unicorn with it.

A deathly quiet washed over the ship as everypony realized what had just happened. Slowly Shadow began to hear Main Stay yelling behind him. Around him, the rest of the crew seemed to be doing the same as they began to run around the deck. Finally spotting the yellow and black Second Mate, Shadow chased after the galloping stallion as he ran for the back of the ship. Following him, the colt watched him break open a hidden door in the wall below the helm. Ripping the rest of the false paneling off with a burst of magic, the officer reached in, pulling out a spear as long as himself.

“’Bout time you show up, where in Tartarus were you?” He yelled, tossing the spear in the air. “Fuck it. Take this and defend the ship like your life depends on it, because it damn well does!” He continued, tossing a spear to Shadow before the colt could open his mouth.
Grabbing the weapon, Shadow backed off as any pony without wings began to crowd around the older officer, wondering how he was supposed to use it. He had no illusions why he had it but was he supposed to throw it at the creature if it came back or thrust it into anything moving that wasn’t a pony? Glancing at Sea Breeze, the blond maned First Mate glanced back, giving him a small smile.

“First time holding a spear?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry; just stab it into anything that has scales.” The ship rocked again. “Don’t hesitate to throw it if you get a shot at its eyes!” The mare hastily added as the water around the ship began to boil.

Before anypony could react, the creature’s tail burst out of the ocean, once again slamming into the ship’s deck. In a move that seemed to defy all belief, the ship’s lone female officer was a blur as she rolled out of the way before bringing her weapon down on the offending limb with as much force as she could. The weapon’s shaft shattered upon impact as the razor sharp tip bent like paper. The limb retreated into the ocean moments before its owner’s head rose out of the water. Coming to a stop, the thing roared; the force of its challenge blowing back Shadow’s mane.

“Here!” Shadow yelled, tossing his weapon to the mare, the weapon rolling to a stop next to her unnoticed.

Overhead, the creature roared again. As it did, teeth as long as a pony was tall locked into place in its mouth. As it reared its head back, everypony could hear it inhale. Above the noise, the colt could hear Main Stay yelling something. Sparing a quick glance at the ship’s master, Shadow turned back in time to see something glowing in the monster’s throat. Without thinking, Shadow ignited his horn, the glowing shield bursting to life a split second before the creature exhaled, flames as bright as the noonday sun blasting against the colt’s shield. Panting from the effort, Shadow looked up as the blinding jet of flames ended.

The monster was absolutely enraged. It had been denied its prize and everypony knew it. They also knew that it was only temporary. As it began to inhale again, Shadow threw every trick he knew into the shield, every ounce of magic and every spell he thought might help, trying to strengthen it. In the moment between breathing in and flames, the ship’s pegasi chose to strike. The crack of light and sound took everypony by surprise. Above, the pegasi crewmembers drove clouds as black as a moonless night towards the creature. Once in range, they jumped on the clouds as one. Bolts of lightning as thick as trees slashed out from the clouds to strike the tallest object around.

The creature roared in agony as the bolts struck repeatedly. Falling back, the creature disappeared beneath the waves with a crash that soaked everypony on the Tranquility. The cheer from the crew was as jubilant as it was short. Within a heartbeat, the monster shot out of the water, fire already leaping from its mouth. Above, the pegasi scattered, their clouds evaporating faster than anypony could blink. One pegasus who had lingered a moment too long fell screaming from the sky, slamming into the ocean. Before he could recover, the creature struck like a snake, swallowing the luckless pony whole.

Pulling its head back again, it threw fire at the Tranquility again. The flames slammed into the young alicorn’s shield. Beneath him, Shadow could feel the wooden deck hiss as the water in the wood turned to steam. The flames continued for what seemed like an eternity. As the thing stopped its attack, Shadow felt his shield begin to crack. Looking up, he could see a few jagged cracks race up the dome. Before he could react, the dome shattered as drops of liquid fire that hadn’t rolled off fell onto the ship. The colt watched as a drop as large as him fell. Looking to where it would hit, he saw Sea Breeze.

It took Shadow a moment to realize that he was running. A moment later, he realized he was running towards the white and blond mare. Time seemed to slow as he ran. Glancing up, he could see the drop of liquid fire falling. The mare finally seemed to notice the danger as Shadow looked into her eyes. Before she could react, Shadow turned his head, slamming his entire body into her side, sending her tumbling.
The world blossomed into perfect, unimaginable, indescribable agony for the son of Silver Maple and Willow. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t hear. All he knew, all he could feel was the fire as it washed over his back half. Faintly he could feel a scream rip itself from his throat. Blinded by the pain, Shadow stumbled around, not feeling the burning deck sear his hooves. Not able to see through the pain, the colt ran through the flames and straight over the ship’s side.

Sea Breeze watched in horror as Shadow ran off the ship. Above her, she could hear the monster roar in victory. Acting on instinct, the mare ignited her horn as she scrambled to her hooves. Racing to the shattered railing, she cast a shield around Shadow’s quickly sinking form and the water around him. Throwing her head back, she yanked the colt out of the ocean as the creature burst out of the water where Shadow had been a split second earlier. Killing the shield, Sea Breeze grabbed Shadow from the air as the trapped water spilled across the deck.

Above her, she could hear their attacker roar in rage. Running for something resembling cover, she saw the young colt’s eyes snap open. Without warning, his horn burst to life, severing her grip on him and dropping him to the deck. As another scream of agony tore itself from him, his horn pulsed once. In front of the ship, a wall of dense black clouds appeared out of nowhere. Within seconds, the mare couldn’t see the hoof in front of her face, much less the colt who had saved her. She could hear him finally pass out from the pain along with other sounds beyond the ship. As the Tranquility cleared the cloud bank, Sea Breeze found herself looking at a perfect copy of the Tranquility sailing fifty yards off her Tranquility’s port side. She turned her head and there was another Tranquility copy to starboard.

Around her the crew stood silent in shock before remembering their situation. As they raced to clear the deck, Sea Breeze distantly noted that the crews of the copycat ships were doing the same thing. Picking Shadow off the deck, she tore the door off its hinges as she raced down the Celestia damned stairs. She didn’t need to say anything as she burst into sickbay.

At the first jolt, Zetani had raced to his station, clearing the table in the center of the room with a quick swipe of his leg. As he prepared for injured friends to come to him, he had been unable to not hear the fight going on above him. He jumped as the door above was sent flying into the ocean. “Get him on the table!” He yelled as Sea Breeze burst in. He didn’t waste time asking what had happened. He had heard the flames and felt the heat from the attack. Outside he heard something explode, the sound rattling the various jars around the room. “What the fuck was that?”

“How in Tartarus am I supposed to know!” Sea Breeze yelled back.

Zetani ignored her as his trained eyes poured over Shadow’s shaking form, multiple potions and techniques rapidly coming to mind.

Next to the ship’s lone zebra, Sea Breeze felt her stomach turn at the sight of the colt before her. All the fur along the back half of Shadow’s body no longer existed, as it had been incinerated by the flames, along with some of the flesh underneath. What was left was a twitching mass of blackened muscle that crackled whenever the colt moved too much. Taking a deep breath at the sight, the Tranquility’s Second Mate felt her stomach heave at the stench of roasted flesh that had started to permeate the small room. Racing to a nearby bucket, the mare heaved as everything she had eaten that day made a sudden reappearance. "Do what you have to doc, but he lives." Sea Breeze said as she wiped her mouth on a leg, jerking her head toward the moaning, twitching, unconscious colt on the table.

"Of course ma'am; I'll do my best." Zetani moved over to a bowl to wash his hooves.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear.” Sea Breeze growled, stalking over until she was in front of the zebra. “I don't care what you have to do, but he lives. If you need anything, come to me and you'll get it, even if we have to beg, borrow or steal it. If we need to go anywhere, we'll go. Am I clear?" She finished, her nose inches from his as she glared at him.

"Yes, ma'am. If I may ask-"

"Why I'm so demanding? Because he saved my life; and I'll be damned if he dies because of that."

Zetani began to soak his hooves in the bowl’s contents, which would keep him sterile for the next few hours. “If you want to help, get that vest off him” he bit back.

Turning to the now motionless colt, Sea Breeze focused on the vest’s zipper, her eyes watering as he pulled it down. Why did he do that? Gently cutting the vest with her magic in a few spots, the mare slowly peeled it off Shadow, her eyes trained on the burned edges so she didn’t take any more flesh with it, before carefully picking him up and pulling the rest of it away. Tossing it into a nearby corner, she turned back to the colt, her mind trying to register what she saw. The room shook with the sound of another explosion, but she took no notice “Doc?”

“Did you get the vest off?”

“Yeah…”

“Good. Now I need you to-”

“Doc?”

“What is… it…” Zetani turned to the first mate. Seeing her staring at the burned colt, he turned to see what she was staring at. It took the zebra healer a moment to register what he was seeing, and a few more before he could speak. “Well… this is new…”

Author's Note:

At six months, this chapter took me the longest to write. It took so long, that I ended up punching out nearly two other chapters. If you notice any issues or errors, please PM me.

Comments

[tkepner]

Next to him, Shadow seemed to think about it for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know what happened, but if you ever want to talk about it…”

Who is speaking? Because Shadow is in the previous sentence, my first thought was that it was his. But the next sentence is Shadow saying "thanks", so ... confusion. Try to avid writing like that.

[Rill]

I shall keep that in mind. Thank you.