Against the Odds
After a brief fainting spell, Discord regained all but one of his senses: the ability to make sense of the situation. He only said in shock, “How? How can you be pregnant? You’re almost 60 years old! You shouldn’t be pregnant!”
Fluttershy explained to the best of her ability, “Well, the doctor suggested that I’m as young as I was in my prime.”
Discord scoffed, “Well, of course he said that! You’re still as beautiful as ever!”
“No. What I mean is that I could still physically be in my prime.”
Her husband stroked his chin in contemplation, “But is that possible?” His eyes then flew open with realization, “Unless…”
She nodded, “I think I inherited something from Mother that’s caused me to age slowly.”
“And your sisters?”
“They could have it, too. I think we should get tested just to be sure.”
“I’m on it!”
He then flashed into a scientist’s lab coat and goggles and conjured up a few machines. When he had scissors in his paw, he asked politely, “Care for a snip, milady?”
She smiled, “Not at all.”
He cut only a stray strand of hair that didn’t complement the smooth texture of her fine pink mane. However, he obtained her sisters’ hair samples by putting his hand through a small portal and simply plucked strands from their manes. Outside, the sisters cried out:
“Ow!”
“Ow!”
“Ooh!”
“Ouch!”
“Hey!”
“Ow!”
After the paw with the portal disappeared over their heads, they rubbed their heads as Applejack asked, “Did y’all feel that?”
Inside the bedroom, Discord placed the strands inside a Petri dish and then put the dish inside a machine. After the device shook and groaned for a few seconds, the results came out as one long scroll of paper. Discord looked over the paper before he suddenly exclaimed, “Aha! I’ve found what we’re looking for!”
Fluttershy asked, “What does it say?”
Discord shrugged and merely let the paper slip from his hands. “I can’t make sense of it.”
Just then, the sisters and husbands opened the door. Sunset demanded, “What is going on in here?”
Fluttershy explained, “Oh, Discord was just conducting a test to see whether or not we have slow-aging genes like our mother.”
Twilight took the scroll of paper on the floor and read it. Her eyes flew wide open and she exclaimed, “We do!”
The sisters and their husbands gasped before Pinkie realized, “Ohhh! That’s why we don’t have gray hairs yet!”
Rarity touched her mane lightly as she said, “And all this time, I thought it was my mousse.”
Applejack furrowed her brow, “Wait. Was that the reason you pulled out our hairs? For a test?”
Twilight asked, “But why would you test for longevity genes?”
Fluttershy and Discord looked at each other. The mare said, “You can tell them this time.”
Rainbow Dash raised her brow, “’This time’?”
Discord smiled broadly, “The good news is Fluttershy is not sick with anything serious. The really great news is she has a little bun in the oven!”
Everyone gasped at the moment.
Pinkie jumped up and down while throwing confetti and cheering, “YAAYYY! Fluttershy’s having a baby! Fluttershy’s having a baby! Fluttershy’s having a baby!!! Woo-hoo!”
With a hint of a smug smirk in his mouth, Discord said, “Yes, isn’t it thrilling that I get to live happily ever, ever, ever after with my special somepony?”
Spike chimed, “Hey, you’re not the only one. I can live just as long as Applejack. A-“
He stopped in mid-sentence when he realized what it meant for his other brothers-in-law. Catching on to what he was thinking, the sisters immediately looked at their beloveds in worry.
It was late at night when the Marendelle family returned home. If they had left Canterlot no later than noon, it would’ve taken them till the next morning to reach the island kingdom. As everyone settled back in their rooms, Button Mash and Sweetie Belle threw themselves onto their bed.
The king sighed in exhaustion, “Finally! We’re back home!”
His wife agreed, “It’s been a really long week for us all.”
He then wrapped his arm around her, “Yeah, but now we have a chance to catch up on some good long rest.”
Suddenly, they heard frantic knocking at the door.
Sweetie Belle remarked, “So much for good long rest.”
Button groaned softly before calling to the pony outside the door, “Enter!”
The door burst open as a page excitedly announced, “Your Majesty! We have received word that a navy ship is in pursuit of a slave ship!”
The king’s face then broke out into an ecstatic smile, “Finally! That’s great news! It’s been almost ten years since I made that report about the slavers!”
Queen Sweetie Belle commented, “I sure hope they catch them.”
Her husband agreed, “Hopefully, this will be the end of slavery in Equestria.”
She nodded.
The navy ship blasted a warning shot at the slave ship Tiger Shark as they gave chase.
On the slave ship, a crewmember told the captain, “Sir, an Equestrian Navy ship is coming up behind us! And a hurricane is in front of us! What do we do?!”
The captain commanded, “We head straight for the hurricane!”
“What?! But sir-“
“I will not let my Tiger Shark get taken! The elusive Captain Flog gets captured by no one!”
The pony sighed and saluted, “Aye-aye, captain.” He then belted out the orders to the rest of the crew.
Below deck, six adolescents were chained together in the brig. They were each a different creature: an earth pony, a yak, a changeling, a hippogriff, a dragon, and a griffon. They could hear the shouts from above.
The changeling asked, “What are they saying?”
“Yak not know.”
The griffon tried to get closer to the sound while telling the others, “Quiet! I’m trying to listen!”
They did stay quiet as the griffon lifted his head to hear better. Then he told them, “It sounds like they’re about to head into a storm.”
The colt voiced, “Why would they do that?”
“You got me, Kelp Head. Whatever our masters do, they do, and we don’t have any choice but to follow.” said the dragon.
The griffon challenged, “Don’t tell me they got to you too, Smoky!”
She replied, “I call it like it is, Chicken Face, especially with your failed escape plans.”
“Our escape plans! Some of them were yours too, you know!”
They got into each other’s faces before the hippogriff got between them and pulled them apart. She shouted, “Stop it! This is no time to fight!”
Kelp Head added, “Bird Horse is right. If a storm is on its way, maybe this will be our one chance to escape!”
Chicken Face thought about it and then snapped his talon. “I got it! Huddle!”
The Young Six huddled together and came up with a plan. Meanwhile, the navy ship pursued Flog’s ship until the slave ship entered the curtain of torrential rain.
The navy captain ordered, “Halt! Halt!”
As the ship came to a stop, one crewmember cursed, “Blast it! They got away.”
“They’re only going to get away if they survive the storm’s fury.” He then put his hat to his chest and lamented, “Faust help the unfortunates in their grasp.”
Meanwhile, the Tiger Shark began rocking and teetering with the wild waves. The strong winds of the hurricane threatened to keel over the ship so it would drown in the choppy waters. No pony could stay still on the ship of misery, not even the Young Six, though they tried to stay level with the ship’s changing tosses and turns.
Yak groaned, “Ohh…Yak think yak gonna be sick.” Her cheeks puffed out as she tried to hold in her nausea.
The ship’s guard was faring no better as he slipped and slid up and down the brig. When the opportunity arose, Chicken Face softly said, “Here’s our chance! Now!”
Just as the guard slid near their cell, the Young Six coordinated their slide so Chicken Face and Bird Horse could be right next to the cell’s bars. When the guard landed on his flank and hit against the bars, Chicken Face wrapped his arms across the stallion’s chest and shoulders.
“Gotcha!” the griffon cried.
Bird Horse then said, “And for good measure….” She did the honor of knocking the guard unconscious.
The slaves cheered before they returned to their plan. Bird Horse quickly unfastened the ring of keys from the guard’s belt, but a sudden jolt throughout the ship caused them to fall out of her grip.
Bird Horse panicked, “No, the keys!”
Luckily, Smoky managed to catch them in time. “Got it!” She quickly found the lock and tried a number of keys until the cell door opened.
As the Young Six happily exited their cell, the changeling cheered, “We’re free!”
One of the slaves still trapped in another cell corrected, “Not yet, you’re not!”
Kelp Head then took the keys from his friend and offered, “Here! Let us help you outta there!”
Another slave shouted, “There’s no time! Get outta here while you still can!”
A third slave agreed, “Yes! This is your chance at freedom! There might never be another one like this!”
A fourth one pleaded, “If you find help, tell them where we are.”
As the Young Six took the slaves’ advice and ran up the brig as fast as they could in unfavorable conditions, the imprisoned slaves cheered them on and tried to hurry them along. On deck, a crewmember heard the commotion below.
“Sir! The slaves are making a ruckus in the brig!”
Flog ordered, “Well, tell them to shut up!”
Just as the Young Six neared the stairs to the deck, Bird Horse squealed in delight, “This is it! Freedom at last!”
Suddenly, a stallion leaned down the exit and smiled wickedly, “You’re not going anywhere.”
Just when all hope seemed lost once again, the ship collided with a giant wave, thus causing the vessel to jerk. The sudden movement caused the stallion to lose his footing and fall down the stairs.
As soon as the Young Six were certain he was out cold, Chicken Face said, “Smoky, grab Kelp Head! Bug Eyes, Bird Horse, grab Yak!”
He slowly flew up the stairs as the others followed. Right behind Chicken Face, the changeling and hippogriff carried the young yak with all their might. Behind them, Smoky carried Kelp Head in her arms. They finally reached the opening and surfaced onto the deck and the stormy elements.
Captain Flog sputtered in surprise before his face contorted into anger and he commanded, “Get them!”
Given the hurricane and the slippery deck, the crew’s attempts to apprehend the Young Six were quite clumsy. Whenever a slaver managed to grab one of the kids, another of the Young Six would rescue their friend. The children didn’t fare much better, either. Whenever they tried to get to a lifeboat, they would either slide away from it or be thwarted by a crewmember or two. There was no success from either side. Everyone kept sliding and swerving in every direction.
After a while of chaos on the high seas, Flog growled, “Enough!”
He forcefully jammed a rod into the steering wheel to keep the ship steady and he swung down on a rope towards the deck. He grabbed a branding iron from one of the barrels and used it to knock the Young Six off their feet. The kids then slid towards the railing and one of the lifeboats.
When the cruel captain landed on deck ever so smoothly, he walked towards them and chuckled wickedly, “Well, if it isn’t our little rebel creatures, trying to escape once again. Going for that lifeboat, aren’t ya? Well…” He then pulled out a knife from his belt. “…I’m going to make sure you lose all hope of ever getting away.” With that, he cut one of the lifeboat’s ropes with one swipe.
Before he could cut the other rope, one of his stallions shouted, “CAPTAIN! TIDAL WAVE OFF THE PORT BOW!”
Flog’s eyes shrunk at the size of the mammoth wave. “Oh, horseapples. Take cover!”
The crew and Young Six braced themselves for when the wave would hit. The wall of water came down upon the deck in one fell swoop. Luckily, the ship had not capsized when the wave hit. When Flog regained his senses, he looked to see that the Young Six had vanished, and with them, the lifeboat.
A crewmember then asked the captain, “Captain, the slaves! Should we search for them?”
Instead of raging at the drenched stallion, Flog calmly answered, “No. Leave them to drown. The storm will take care of them. They’ve caused me trouble one too many times. But if they survive the hurricane, they’ll be begging us to take them back.” He then chuckled evilly.
As the ship pressed on through the perilous waves, one lone lifeboat tossed endlessly in the choppy waters. Just then, Chicken Face and Smoky surfaced from the stormy depths of the ocean and gasped for air.
The blue griffon coughed, “There’s the lifeboat!”
Smoky then asked, “But where are the others?”
Suddenly, Chicken Face yelped as he was dragged down into the water. Smoky took a deep breath and dove into the ocean once more. She looked down to see her friends sinking towards the bottom by Yak’s heaviness. Chicken Face swam towards Bird Horse and helped her pull on the chain linking her to Yak. Smoky did the same thing and helped Kelp Head and Bug Eyes pull on the changeling’s chain to Yak. The five of them then swam upwards as they held tight to the chains holding the unconscious yak.
First, Smoky surfaced and grabbed the side of the unsteady lifeboat. She gasped for air and helped her friends reach the stormy surface of the water. As Chicken Face and Bird Horse emerged from underwater, the dragon, pony, and changeling climbed onto the lifeboat. When the griffon and hippogriff joined the others, they worked together to bring Yak onto the boat. With a few of them on one side of the boat to balance out the weight of the pull, the others gave it their all to drag Yak out from underneath the water.
Smoky grunted, “Pull!”
When Yak was finally out of the water, Kelp Head cried, “We got her!”
The lifeboat tilted a bit as they brought Yak onboard, but it soon evened itself out.
Yak coughed out the water in her lungs violently before she opened her eyes. When she came to, she groaned, “What happened?”
Bird Horse smiled excitedly, “We got away! We actually got away!”
Chicken Face pointed out, “Let’s not celebrate just yet.”
Bug Eyes nodded, “He’s right. We’re in a hurricane, and we could drown out here if we don’t find land soon.”
Kelp Head said, “Then let’s hurry.”
About an hour later, Button Mash and Sweetie Belle were in the throne room awaiting the arrival of the navy captain.
Button Mash prayed softly, “Please let the navy be successful. Please let the navy be successful.”
Just then, a page entered and announced, “Captain Old Salt requests an audience with you.”
Sweetie Belle answered, “You may let him in.”
After the page left, the elderly navy captain entered the throne room. Seeing no smile on Old Salt’s face, the rulers feared for the worst.
Button Mash asked, “I take it the pursuit didn’t go too well?”
The captain shook his head, “I’m afraid not, Your Majesty. The Tiger Shark went into a hurricane before we had the chance to catch the dirty scoundrels. Forgive me, my king.”
Sweetie Belle stated, “You are forgiven. You did your best.”
Button Mash then said, “You’re dismissed.” When Old Salt left the throne room, Button Mash grunted as he slammed his hoof into the arm of his throne in frustration, “Argh! We were so close! Why do pirates always have to be so dang slippery?!”
His wife put her hoof on his and comforted him, “We will catch all of them. Even if it takes a millennium, we will catch them.”
He then sighed and put his head on his hoof, “I just feel bad for the slaves who have to suffer under their grip. I want so badly to help them all escape and live better lives.”
She nodded, “I know, sweetheart. But we must have faith that one day, we’ll finally have a chance to end their terrible slave trade for good.”
No sooner had Sweetie Belle said those words than a bat pony sentry rushed into the throne room. “Your Highnesses! We caught sight of something on the sandbar southeast of here!”
As a joke, Button Mash muttered to his queen, “Try saying that five times fast.”
The sentry continued, “The party we sent out to investigate has come back with news of six unconscious children in chains!”
The rulers gasped, half in shock and half in excitement.
Button Mash looked at Sweetie with wide eyes, “You don’t think they’re…?”
She finished, “Slave children who escaped the storm?”
Button Mash ordered, “Send out a large boat to put the children in and bring them to the palace to recover!”
The sentry bowed, “At once, Your Grace!”
After the pony left, the rulers embraced each other.
Sweetie squealed, “Oh, Button, I’m so excited!”
The king smiled with happy tears in his eyes, “After ten long years, we might finally have a chance to end slavery once and for all!”
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I don't see that coming. Just when I thought the cast couldn't get bigger...
Well, there were quite the interesting developments here!
With the Mane Seven inheriting the slow aging gene from Celestia, that actually kind of makes sense and was a good explanation for how Fluttershy can be pregnant again, although now the guys outside of Discord and Spike are in a bit of a pickle.
However, the main event was the introduction of the Young Six (who I can't call "Student Six" since they're technically not students in this context). First, I thought it was interesting that they're the same ages they are currently in the show; usually, show-canon young characters tend to be aged up by this point. I also thought it was interesting that they were slaves, and I like the slave names you came up for them, although now I'm curious as to how they're going to get their canon names. Finally, Silverstream is our first hippogriff in the RCF series; now to wait for the rest to be introduced!
All-in-all, this was a good chapter, and I'm excited to see what happens next!
Oh my gosh!
Whoo-hoo! Duck and cover, everybody! Big boom's a-comin'! 
9523219
Let me guess you're going back to the bunker?
9523239
I haven't used it in a while. It might need to be cleaned out.
9523248
Just don't throw out that sleeping bag in the back left corner, that's mine.
9523248
9523272
I don't know if I should be glad that you haven't used the bunker in awhile or if I should take this as a hint to get back to my stories and shock you again.
9523313
The two ideas aren't mutually exclusive...
Um, 9523248, please don't lock me out
9523459
Relax, it's open. Just try not to get almost blown up like the last time.
9523461
that's a relief