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By Luna's Light7,774 words
By Luna's Grace7,521 words

By Luna's Grace

“Hey, come on, wake up!”

Blue let out a low groan. She didn’t want to wake up. Her everything hurt. She wanted to wrap herself up in a blanket and sleep for a few weeks, preferably near the heat assembly. Hadn’t she earned a break? She’d dealt with that idiot Greystern constantly calling her ‘Bee’ for weeks, not to mention all the time she’d spent working on—

“The ship!”

Blue darted bolt upright, her wings wide, her eyes even wider.

She immediately crashed into something.

She went back down, clutching at her skull.

“Ow!” A tall silhouette fell backward in front of her, clutching its head. “Luna’s Mane, I go out of my way to save somepony and this is the thanks I get…”

“Who… who’s there?” Blue pushed herself upright, only to slump over a few seconds later. She tried to gasp for breath, but it seemed hard to get air into her lungs. She could barely think. “Who is that…?”

Blue blinked rapidly, but everything remained a blur. All she saw were smears and shadows. She tried to flip down her goggles, only to find she wasn’t wearing them anymore. Swearing, she tried to push herself up with her wings, but a bolt of pain ripped through the left one. She howled and collapsed again.

“Ssssh!” the shadow hissed at her. “I’ve had plenty of excitement tonight saving your cute little tail and would appreciate it if you didn’t invite everything within ten miles to join us!”

The other pony sat up, though Blue could barely make out the shape of what was probably a mare in the light of the… Moon? Probably the Moon. She squinted hard, trying to get a look at the odd figure as she shifted around in the damp earth.

When she finally caught sight of the outline of the mare through the haze, she fell over again.

“Not possible…”

The ringing in her ears made it impossible to clearly make out the voice. But… the silhouette… the height. The…

“Lune?” Blue whispered.

The figure crept a little closer, enough to make out her mane. It shone an odd color she couldn’t identify in the moonlight. Gold, maybe? But it wasn’t in the wild flaring waves she knew, but instead, in a elegant mass of curls?

“You… you changed your mane?”

The figure paused and looked around, as if trying to figure out who Blue was speaking to. “How hard did you hit your head?”

“Lune, it’s me. Blue.”

The figure leaned back and seemed to study her.

“That was quite the landing. So I’m guessing you hit it pretty hard…” Okay, yes. Blue was now positive she was speaking to a mare. It had to be a mare with a voice like that. But, of course, Lune was a mare. But… she sounded so strange, even though the ringing. Why? “Especially if you’re this mixed up…”

“I… I don’t understand,” Blue said slowly. “How are you here? Where… where even is here?”

“Well, I’m guessing you were aboard what used to be that ship over there?” The figure shook her enormous waves of hair. “And you were thrown all the way over here? You’re lucky you didn’t break your neck.”

“Over… where?”

The other pony pointed—at least, that’s what the shadow looked like it was doing—but Blue couldn’t focus properly. All she saw flickering lights in the near distance. She didn’t care about that. She cared about how—

She whimpered as a shot of pain speared through her brain. The ringing and the blurriness tripled in intensity as she clutched her head. Where was she? What had happened? She… why was Lune acting so strange?

“Hey, that looks like it’s getting—”

“Who…?” Blue tried to sit up again, but this time, she lost the war with gravity entirely. She flopped down on her back, biting back a screech when she landed on what could only a broken wing.

“Oh wow…” Lunar moved closer to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see just how bad your wing was…”

“Head hurts…” Blue mumbled—probably. “Everything hurts. What’s wrong with you, Lune? Your voice and… everything...”

“Hold on, I think I might have one more...”

Blue shivered as a cool wind brushed over her. That wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be feeling cold. But something else bothered her. She couldn’t… remember much right now. But Lunar hadn’t been on the Silver Lining. She was… she was pretty sure of that.

Was… was it somepony trying to pretend they were Lunar? She couldn’t see any reason why, but she’d long ago given up on trying to figure out other ponies. So… she needed answers, right? Because if this pony was intentionally trying to fool her by acting like Lune… she was going to beat her to a pulp using her multibow as a club.

Blue’s right wing—the intact one—brushed against her side to check for her multibow. Though she didn’t remember stowing it, it was still there. That meant she wasn’t defenseless. With the figure so close, actually using it as a bow was out of the question. Still, she could try and unleash the power crystals at point blank range. Theoretically, the blast could knock out a full-grown mare. Then she could run for help!

Blue’s left foreleg crept over to her side—it still felt like she had her tools on her, thank Celestia—but then the figure loomed over her again. Blue shuddered and tried to look as helpless as possible. Considering her size, it wasn’t all that hard—at least, that’s what she hoped.

She squinted, but her eyes… she couldn’t make out anything but shadows. The mare was the right height for Lunar Skysong… but… something was wrong…

“Now, I’ve got a healing potion here,” the mare said soothingly in a voice that sounded a lot less like Lune than it had a minute ago. She held up a small glass bottle in one hoof. “It won’t fix that wing, but it should clear your head up and take care of some of your other injuries, okay?”

She couldn’t fight off the mare in her current state. She either had to use her multibow’s power crystals to stun her now… or take the potion. But if this was some ploy… why heal her? What did she want? What was going on?

As the mare popped the lid off the bottle, Blue slumped into the earth and resigned herself to her fate. Trying to unload a power crystal into a stun shot was tricky work and she couldn’t even see straight. That wasn’t going to happen. Which left her little choice but…

With a surprising amount of gentleness, she lifted Blue’s head and slowly poured the potion down her throat. Blue shuddered at the bitter taste of the potion, as if the pony had brewed it themselves. Or had put in some dirt for fun.

“Ssssh,” the mare whispered softly. “Take it slowly. No need to rush.”

Blue choked down the potion. The world went strange again, spinning despite the fact she was sitting still.

The next thing she knew, her head was in the mare’s lap. Blue blinked and finally the world around her came into focus.

The first thing she saw was the face of her apparent savior.

The first thing she felt upon seeing said face was a dull, familiar ache in her chest.

This wasn’t Lunar Skysong. Of course not. She’s… she’s dead.

These days, it didn’t hurt nearly as much to think that.

The first thought, however, surprised even her.

Harmony, she’s gorgeous.

A mane of luscious violet and purple hair curled around her delicate and rather exotic face. She had her gray-coated head cocked at an odd angle—though it was presently upside down to Blue. Both of her ears flickered in the breeze coming through the trees around them. To Blue’s surprise, both of the mare’s ears appeared to have tufts on them.

And Blue knew of only one kind of pony who had tufts on their ears…

Blue’s eyes locked onto the stranger’s gaze. She should have been terrified. She should have bolted away. Or screamed. Or something. But she didn’t. There was something oddly comforting, yet curious in the slitted emerald eyes. The stranger blinked once or twice, long eyelashes fluttering. Then she broke out into a gentle smile, a single long canine glinting in the moonlight.

“Hi there,” she said. “Welcome back.”

Blue found her throat suddenly quite dry. She licked her lips a few times, trying to figure out why’d she’d lost the ability to speak all of the sudden. It was a silly, foolish thing to do, to suddenly lose the ability to speak.

“Um… hi,” Blue whispered.

“Feel better?”

Blue nodded dumbly.

“Good.” The smile didn’t change.

“Who… who are you?” Blue asked. It seemed like the natural question. “Where did you come from?”

The stranger narrowed her eyes for a split-second, then that snaggletoothed smile reappeared. “I’m Shadow Blossom. As for where I came from…” Shadow Blossom’s grin widened. “Well, that’s a long story. What’s your name?”

Blue opened her mouth to answer when another voice rang out through forest.

“Little Bee!” bellowed the voice of Captain Greystern. “Dammit, you pathetic excuse for a pegasus, you’d better not be dead!”

Shadow arched an eyebrow as she peered down at Blue. “Would you happen to be this ‘Little Bee’?”

“Um… sorta?” Blue offered, resisting the urge to facehoof. “It’s a… nickname?”

“Bee, hm?” Shadow Blossom seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding in approval. “I like it. I think it fits you. Cute name for a cute mare.”

Blue actually looked around, positive that Shadow Blossom had been speaking to somepony else. “Me?”

Shadow Blossom laughed. “Of course, who else—”

“Celestia damn you, Little Bee! Where are you?”

“For the love of Harmony…” Blue muttered. This time she really did facehoof. “I really hate that stallion.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Hardly.”

“Still, he seems interested in finding you.”

“Better than something else trying to find me, like a…” Blue’s mind finally finished restarting. “Wait… who are you? You’re not a member of the Silver Lining’s crew.”

“Is that the airship that crashed?” Shadow Blossom asked, glancing to the right.

Blue followed her gaze, but couldn’t see through the bush—though she did note several large paw prints in the mud. She ignored the prints and, with Shadow Blossom’s help, she managed to get herself upright for the first time. Then her heart sunk as she saw what remained of the ship she had spent eight months working on.

The crash of the Silver Lining had left a great swath of destruction through the Everfree Forest, tearing up trees, rocks, brush and anything else in its path. Several hundred yards away, half the gray envelope lay in tattered rags, while the other half lay in scattered bits around the wreckage. From the damage, the envelope had been dragged behind the ship as the overcharged port propellers had continued to drive the gondola forward until they had finally ripped apart under the strain. Another two hundred yards past that lay the shattered hulk of rest of the Silver Lining.

The ship had broken into three large pieces. The stern somehow had actually caught on fire, though it was a slow smoldering thing—probably caused by one of the crystal cores sparking badly on impact. Beyond that, Blue could just barely make out the two halves of the bow, cracked against an enormous boulder.

Blue stared at what remained of the airship for a few long moments before releasing a long, mournful sigh. “Yeah. That’s the ship.”

“Nope. Definitely not aboard that.” Shadow Blossom sounded rather relieved.

Blue didn’t blame her and then refocused on the reason for her question in the first place.

“Then… where did you come from? You aren’t a… a…”

She could think of only one other reason a pony would be in the Everfree Forest at the final resting place of the Silver Lining. It was rather simple: because they’d originally been aboard one of the three ships they’d had the misfortune to meet earlier this evening.

Blue slowly turned to look at the mare who had apparently saved her.

If she was a pirate, she was the strangest pirate Blue had ever seen. Pirates normally wore patchwork armor—if they bothered wearing anything at all. However, this mare wore a large black collar with silver buttons—though it was presently open—along with dark brown barding and shining silver horseshoes.

“I don’t think you’re a pirate.” Blue stared. Probably for too long.

Shadow Blossom blinked at her and smirked. “Um, no. Sorry. Animal care specialist. If you’re looking for pirates, they’re up there.” She pointed a hoof skyward.

Blue followed her gaze to see the black airships sailing off into darkness, a few pegasi trailing behind. They’d lost interest now that the Silver Lining had crashed. Nopony was crazy enough to go into the Everfree Forest to—

“We’re… we’re in the Everfree…” Blue mumbled as every hair on her body stood straight up.

“Last time I checked.”

“Celestia damn you with a kiss from the sun, Little Bee, if you’re hearing me and not answering…”

“He likes to shout a lot, doesn’t he?” Shadow Blossom asked, looking out over the forest to where the gray stallion continued to bellow around pieces of the Silver Lining left in the wake of the airship’s destruction. “Not really a smart thing to do in the Everfree.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not really the smartest stallion I’ve ever met…” Blue muttered, watching him silhouetted against the piece of burning debris and trying not to think of what might be lurking behind— “Wait…”

Blue’s heart skipped. Behind the limping form of Captain Greystern, three pairs of glowing green eyes flickered open in the darkness.

“Find anything, Captain?” came another voice coming from the direction of the wreck. It sounded like the first mate, a unicorn mare named Pine Dart. “Any sign of her?”

“No, the Celestia-damned idiot. She probably got herself eaten by a manticore or something,” Greystern grunted and tried to adjust his now filthy and torn uniform. “Ugh, the last thing I want to do is come home a crewmember short, even if she is the most annoying pony I’ve ever met.”

Blue’s ears went back and she frowned, but her gaze remained locked onto the green eyes in the woods beyond the devastated section of forest.

“Those are…” Blue began.

Shadow Blossom followed her gaze, grunted and stretched slightly. “Oh, those things again.”

Shadow adjusted something on her forehooves and to Blue’s shock, gleaming steel hoofdaggers snapped out from her barding’s cuffs.

“Who are you?” Blue asked with a gasp, looking up at the strange batpony mare.

“You keep asking that question,” Shadow Blossom said with the same snaggletooth grin. “I already told you!”

And like that, she vanished into the darkness. She was there one moment, then gone the next. Blue didn’t have time to figure out what had just happened with her mysterious savior.

Because three timberwolves had crept out of the woods toward the unsuspecting captain. Blue wanted to shout a warning, but she’d never be heard from here. She could try to run to them, but the healing potion hadn’t mended any of her broken bones. One of her ribs burned—probably broken—and there was no way she could get to Greystern or his oblivious first mate in time.

That left only one option.

Wincing in pain, Blue pulled out her multibow. The bow shook horribly in her grip, forcing her to try and brace it against a nearby stump, but even that barely helped.

She slotted a bolt, but a spasm in her wing sent the bolt clattering to the ground. Without waiting to try and find the lost bolt, she triggered another one, tilting the bow to keep it correctly slotted.

Squinting down the length of the bow, she sighted on the first of the timberwolves. The hulking masses of branches, leaves and bark moved forward with predatory grace. Neither Greystern nor Pine Dart had seen them. They were too busy yammering about something, facing the wreck of the Silver Lining.

Blue’s hoof spasmed and she found her aim wobbling between the timberwolves and Greystern. She glanced around, trying to catch sight of wherever Shadow Blossom had disappeared to, but couldn’t see her.

She bit her lip. She couldn’t depend on the stranger to save either officer. If she could take down the lead timberwolf, it would give the two unicorns time to react.

She swallowed, took a breath and fired.

A second after she unleashed the steel bolt, Shadow Blossom appeared behind the rearmost timberwolves. In the space it took for the bolt to go from Blue’s multibow to the first timberwolf’s head, Shadow Blossom had already shattered one of the timberwolves into splinters with two precise blows from her hoofdaggers.

The lead timberwolf collapsed mid-pounce as its head exploded in a spray of splinters and shredded leaves. Blue let out a sigh of relief as Shadow Blossom grinned at her before turning her attention back to the last of the timberwolves.

Both unicorns whirled in shock at the sudden commotion behind them. Pine Dart let out a shriek and jumped backward, tripping over her own tail, while Greystern snarled something and fired a volley of arcane missiles at both the last timberwolf and Shadow Blossom.

“No!” Blue cried, clutching her side in pain.

Her voice didn’t carry far… though it didn’t appear to matter.

With impossible grace, Shadow Blossom spun out of the way of the four arcane missiles, though two of them came within an inch of her mane and tail. Pieces of the timberwolf went flying as it buckled under the assault, but it didn’t go down. Instead, it turned its attention to Greystern, snarled and charged at the captain.

Greystern backpedaled, but tripped over the form of Pine Dart, still scrambling in the mud. He let out a howl of panic as the timberwolf leapt at him.

In a blur of motion, Shadow Blossom darted forward, did a twirl in midair to land beneath the flying form of the timberwolf and then sprang directly upward, her twin hoofdaggers outstretched.

The timberwolf exploded, leaving nothing but sticks, mud and leaves in Greystern’s surprised face.

Shadow Blossom landed on her hooves with a little spin, bowed to the two unicorns and then vanished into the night without another word.

Blue just stared at the spot where she had been.

“What… just… happened?”

“We saved their lives,” Shadow Blossom said directly behind her.

Blue shrieked, whirled, tripped over the stump and finally crashed into a blueberry bush upside down.

Shadow Blossom giggled, her emerald eyes glinting in the moonlight. “Yup. Definitely cute.”

“Ow?” Blue muttered, though her pride felt more wounded than her body—more or less. “Um… little help?”

“Oh, right!” Shadow Blossom came up and deftly extricated Blue from the blueberry bush. “Sorry about that.”

“Somehow, I doubt it,” Blue grumbled, brushing at a few stray blueberry stains before stowing her multibow. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”

Shadow Blossom’s eyes glittered. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Uh… yes?” Blue stared at her. “I did ask.”

“Like I said, long story.”

“Uh-huh.”

Blue glanced behind her to where Greystern and Pine Dart were picking themselves up off the ground. They quickly headed back toward the forward wreckage of the Silver Lining, though they kept looking around in barely-controlled panic.

“They’re going to get eaten trying to get through the Everfree like that,” Shadow Blossom said with a sigh. “I’m guessing you don’t want that to happen, Bee?”

“I may not like them,” Blue said. “But I don’t want… wait, did you just call me ‘Bee’?”

“I thought you said it was a nickname.” Shadow Blossom shrugged.

“Actually, my name is Blue Venture,” Blue corrected her with a sniff.

However, when she saw a flash of disappointment in Shadow Blossom’s eyes, she decided it wasn’t so bad if this mare called her that. After all, it wasn’t an insult coming from her.

In fact, it reminded Blue of simpler times.

Anyway, she’d been called a lot worse during her career. ‘Bee’ wasn’t that bad, was it?

“But, if you want to call me Bee, I think I’d be okay with that?” Blue said, tapping her forehooves together nervously.

“Great!” Shadow Blossom beamed at her. “And please, call me Shadow.”

“O-okay, Shadow,” Blue murmured, blushing for some strange indefinable and completely inexplicable reason. “Wait… didn’t you have a question about something?”

Shadow rolled her eyes. “You don’t want those two to be eaten, right?”

“Um, no. Preferably not.”

“Well, we should probably go help them. I scouted out the wreckage and none of the crewponies looked armed with anything more than horseshoes or a bow. I think you might be the most well-armed of the bunch with that fancy bow of yours.”

“It’s… not a weapon,” Blue protested, shooting the mare a glare. “It’s a tool!”

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

“It just… does a really good job of being a weapon if I need it to be,” Blue muttered. “It’s… complicated.”

“If you say so.” Shadow shrugged. She seemed far too casual about this entire thing. “Still, that was a pretty good shot against that timberwolf. I couldn’t have made that shot, that’s for sure.”

Blue blushed again. Why did she keep doing that? “T-thank you.”

“Think you can walk?” Shadow asked.

“I can try…” Blue pushed herself to her hooves, but collapsed halfway through with a yelp, her broken wing spasming in pain. “Or… maybe not.”

“We’re going to need to bind that wing,” Shadow said, tapping a hoof to her chin. Her eyes brightened. “How attached are you to that fancy cloak?”

“Well, I’m wearing it so fairly—”

“Great!”

A flash of steel later and Blue’s cloak had been inexpertly trimmed.

“Hey!” Blue protested. “I happen to like this cloak!”

“Sorry,” Shadow shrugged as she cut it up into ribbons. “I’m out of bandages. I’m assuming you don’t want to spend the night here?”

Blue glared at her, but didn’t complain any further.

“That’s what I thought.” Her overly-chipper voice lost some of its warmth. “Now… this is probably going to hurt.”

It did. A great deal. Blue made several piercing comments about the level of pain she felt from it. Shadow’s tufted ears remained pinned back long after she had finished, though the sounds hadn’t carried far. However, by the time she was done, Shadow had successfully bound up Blue’s broken wing in a surprisingly competent fashion. While Shadow would likely not be a future candidate for any of Equestria’s emergency response teams anytime in the near future, she’d gotten the job done.

Sometimes, that was what mattered. Working on massive flying airships—especially in emergences—tended to focus one’s expectations into the immediate and the necessary.

“Thank… you,” Blue wheezed. “Don’t suppose you have another healing potion?”

Shadow shook her head. “Sorry, Bee. That was my last one. I don’t usually need many.”

For once, Blue didn’t need to ignore the nickname. She did, however, ignore the blush that appeared on her cheeks. “How do you go into the Everfree without healing poti—”

Shadow’s fang glinted in the moonlight again… just like her hoofdaggers.

“Right. Foolish question.”

“Think you can walk now?” Shadow asked.

“With a little help?”

Shadow nodded and slowly helped Blue up to her hooves. She wobbled a bit, but this time, she stayed upright, though Shadow hovered over her like a mother hen for a bit. Finally, Blue waved her off—which had nothing to do with the reminder of how freaking tall Shadow was compared to her—and nodded toward the wreck of the Silver Lining.

“We should get moving. Even if the pirates are moving away, the Everfree isn’t a safe place.”

“Well, if you’re not me, it’s not a safe place,” Shadow said in a sing-song voice. “But not everypony is amazing as me. Don’t worry your pretty little head, Bee. I’ll be right behind you.”

Blue—annoyingly—couldn’t find any argument to that and settled for a glower that had absolutely no effect whatsoever on the smiling batpony mare.

With slow, deliberate steps, Blue and Shadow headed for the smoldering wreckage of the Silver Lining. Through the haze, she could see figures milling about between the stern and the broken bow. Somepony had decided to use some sort of spell to douse the fire before it had spread any further. They’d set up a few emergency alchemical glowsticks in a circle around the perimeter. A familiar-looking stallion stood on a box of some kind and addressed the crew, though he was too far away for Blue to make out.

Shadow—despite her assurances—actually walked beside Blue instead of behind her. This annoyed Blue, though she couldn’t say why. Instead, she just glanced to the side. Shadow calmly looked around her, as if they were in the Canterlot Gardens and not in the most monster-infested forest in all of Equestria. Blue found herself staring at the sheer grace of the tall earth pony’s movements and her—

“Wait… you’re an earth pony?” Blue blurted out, her eyes tracing the mare’s barding—completely without any sign of a wing access point.

“Actually, I’m an alicorn, I’m just really good at illusion magic.”

“You’re an alicorn,” Blue stated flatly.

“Mmhmm.”

“You don’t even have a horn.”

“It’s a compact horn. You probably can’t see it from down there.”

“Okay, I’m not that short!” Blue protested, wobbling as she tripped over an exposed root.

“Whatever you say, Bee.”

“I can literally see your forehead right now,” Blue insisted. “And I’m sure you don’t have a horn.”

“I said I’m good with illusion magic.”

Blue just glowered at her. They made it another five yards before Shadow finally broke down with a giggle.

“Yes, I’m an earth pony. Why?”

“Ummm…” Blue frowned, suddenly realizing this may not have been the smartest line of questioning. “Well… I thought you were… a…” she whispered the last word in a tiny voice, “batpony.”

“I am!”

Blue shook her head. “Okay, you’re hurting my head. And I’m pretty sure I still have that concussion. And you’re not supposed to hurt the heads of ponies with concussions!”

“Well, if that’s your expert medical advice,” Shadow commented dryly. “I can’t just ignore it, can I, Doctor Bee?”

Blue winced. “Don’t call me that, please.”

Shadow paused and peered at her. “Oh. Sorry? Um…”

“Sore subject. Long story. Moving on.”

“Right!” Shadow chirped, apparently as eager to change the topic as Blue was. “My mom was an earth pony. My dad was a batpony.”

“Really?” Blue scratched her head—and almost fell flat on her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an earthbound batpony before.”

“We’re rare.” Shadow shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the question. “But not unheard of. Anyway, you’ve got your head in the clouds all the time!” Shadow poked Blue’s uninjured wing. “What do you know about earth ponies?”

“Enough,” Blue answered, staring at the ground.

“Another sore subject?”

“More long story than sore subject,” Blue sighed. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You know, it’s a good thing we’re almost there.” Shadow said. “Otherwise the rest of this conversation might turn into one long story.”

Blue looked up from her contemplation of the ruined earth beneath her hooves just as she stepped into the circle of light cast by the alchemical glowsticks.

Instantly, the crew of the Silver Lining reacted. Half a dozen unicorns’s horns burned with arcane fire. Two pegasi aimed crossbows at them. And ten earth ponies picked up pieces of debris.

“Wait!” Blue shouted, jumping in front of Shadow. “Don’t—”

“You realize that you’re like… half my size, right?” Shadow commented, sounding exceedingly amused. “I mean, thanks for throwing yourself in the line of fire and everything, but still…”

“Back away from her now, you damn pirate!” Greystern snarled from atop his box. The stallion looked desperate to attack something. “Or I’ll take your head off!”

Shadow yawned. “I’m terrified. Can’t you see how terrified I am?”

“Take her down!”

“No!” Blue shouted. She tried to jump up into the air, only to crash to the ground when gravity reminded her about her broken wing.

It was the only reason she faced the right direction to see Shadow easily sidestep two crossbow bolts, then three arcane missiles and then do a flying leap over a single energy blast from the quartermaster.

Shadow landed neatly, exactly where she had been a moment ago, looking bored. “You all done now?”

“Uh… Captain?” Pine Dart asked, taking a few steps backward. “What do we do?”

“Idiots!” Blue snapped as she scrambled back to her hooves, wincing at the pain in her wing and side. “She saved your damn life, Greystern! Yours too, Dart! Otherwise you would have been timberwolf food because you were too busy whining about not finding me to see a pack of three directly behind you!”

“You know, that’s the second time he’s shot arcane missiles at me,” Shadow noted as she buffed one of her horseshoes. “A girl could get the wrong idea from that sort of thing.”

“Is the idea that he’s an idiot?”

“I’m leaning toward that,” Shadow said with a shrug.

“Then you aren’t wrong,” Blue stalked up to the captain. “Because if he had listened to me, the ship wouldn’t be in pieces all over the Everfree!”

Greystern’s eyes shifted from Shadow to Blue. “Little Bee, buzzing away again, I see. At least you’re in one piece. The paperwork to report your death would have been a pain in the flank.”

“I saved your life, Greystern.”

“And that’s the only reason I’m not going make things hard on you for breaking our deal,” Greystern whispered.

Blue gritted her teeth, unable to contain the growl of fury boiling up from inside her.

“Wow. She’s even cute when she growls.” Shadow hummed. “Actually, that wasn’t cute. That was downright adorable.”

“Stop helping me,” Blue snapped without turning away from the captain—though she couldn’t stop the blush.

“A few minutes ago you were begging for my help!” Shadow said, her voice the very epitome of pain and confusion. “Now, you don’t want it. Make up your mind, Bee!”

An evil little glitter appeared in Greystern’s eyes, until they flicked over Blue’s head—presumably toward Shadow. A moment later, the glitter vanished.

“If you aren’t a pirate, who are you?” the captain growled.

“I’m a yak spy, obviously.”

Blue facehoofed and turned. “Seriously?”

“What?” Shadow blinked owlishly. “Did I forget to wear my shaggy coat today? Darn.”

“Who are you?” Greystern demanded again.

“Would you believe a hippogriff infiltrator?” Shadow grinned her snaggletooth grin. Her fang glinted again.

How does she always get her fang to glint like that, anyway? Blue wondered. She made a point not to blush at the grin this time. Any color on her face had to be a result of dying embers from the ruined stern of the Silver Lining.

A few of the crew snickered a little. Blue turned back and smirked to see Greystern’s own face turning red, though it wasn’t anything that could be called a blush.

“Oh wow, you look like you’re going to blow a gasket there!” Shadow cooed in a terribly concerned voice. “Well, if I knew you were that worried, I’d have told you I’m a concerned citizen. I saw this little bird crash to the ground with nopony to care for her. Poor thing.”

Blue’s ears went flat. She’s enjoying this far too much.

“So that was you behind me back there?” Greystern asked, his voice still laced with doubt.

“Yup. Though, Bee here saved your life too. Took out the lead timberwolf with a single shot. So… doesn’t that make that two times she’s saved your life?”

Blue ducked her head, trying to ignore the whispers of the crew around her. Most of which sounded like considered disbelief… and a few uncomfortable notes of awe.

“I did see something flash out of the darkness right before you fell, Captain,” Pine Dart said.

“Quiet you,” Greystern snapped. “Well, Blue? Is what this stranger saying about the timberwolf true?”

“Lucky shot,” Blue muttered. She didn’t meet the captain’s eye. And for some reason, she found it odd that Shadow didn’t add any comments this time.

Greystern remained silent for almost half a minute, as did the rest of his crew. “Well, if it was you… I guess I owe you one, because the other favor you already used up. And yes, I owe you one, too,” he snapped at Shadow.

“Don’t get too excited about it, there.” Shadow’s words were laced with sugary sweetness. “You might sprain something.”

“Enough of this!” Greystern shouted. “We need to get out of here. Where’s Hindsight?”

“Here, sir!” said a scrawny pegasus at least a decade younger than Blue. He fluttered up to the captain and snapped off a salute. Both of his wings were intact, though he had several bloody gashes along his flanks.

“Since our little Bee here appears to be wounded, you’re taking point. Get up there and give us a bearing on how the hell to get out of this infernal forest!”

“Yes, sir!” Hindsight darted up into the night sky.

“The rest of you lot!” Greystern barked. “Get whatever gear you can scavenge from the Silver Lining. I’ve already got the black box and the ship’s log. Cargo’s been marked if the company wants to recover it. As soon as Hindsight gives us a bearing, we’re getting out of this forest.”

“But… sir!” said one of the cargo haulers Blue didn’t recognize. “This is the Everfree! There’s all sorts of crazy things in here! Ponies come in, but they never come out!”

Greystern marched up to the stout unicorn and whacked him upside the head. “That’s idiotic. At the very least, New Ponyville’s on the very edge and they’ve been dealing with this place for centuries! So, get it together!”

The cargo hauler quailed under Greystern’s glower, nodding and running off.

With that, the crew of the Silver Lining moved off in different directions to salvage whatever they could from the wreck of the ship. Meanwhile, Blue slowly trotted over to the smoking stern of the ship and peered into the blackened interior.

As she had suspected, one of the cores had sparked the fire. It had scorched most of the engineering bay where she’d spent the last couple of months. With a frown, she sat down and pulled up a hunk of power cabling. Running it through her hooves, she scraped away the dirt and soot to reveal a small label in her own wingwriting.

A tall silhouette in the moonlight walked over to stand beside her. “Bee?”

“Hm?”

“You okay?” Shadow asked as she settled down next to her. “Did Greystern get to you?”

“No, I’m used to that.” Blue shook her head. Instead, she handed the strip of cable to Shadow, who turned it over in her hooves curiously. “It’s this.”

“‘Portside Conduit A-Three-Seven-Six-Two-Zero’,” Shadow read aloud. “What is it?”

“I laid that cable eight months ago,” Blue said as she studied the twisted remains of the conductor cages. She caught the glints of shattered crystal throughout what was left of the engineering bay. “First thing I connected when I came on site.”

“You… you helped build this ship?”

Blue nodded, not looking at her. “Installed the conductor cages, set the crystal cores, oversaw the power distribution system, tested every strip of wire and conduit in the hull. I even configured the propeller arrays myself after Twirl caught a bad case of the pony pox. It would have been the thirtieth ship… my thirtieth ship.” Blue let out a low sigh. “Thirtieth ship I had crewed for a shakedown. Now? It’s nothing. Nothing but shattered wood and bent metal.”

Cogstrut—his uniform finally stained with grease, oil, dirt and soot—scrambled into the engineering bay and tried to pry out a half-melted toolbox off the port bulkhead. He didn’t look at Blue even once as he worked.

“I’m sorry.” Shadow sounded sincere. “I didn’t know.”

“No reason you would.” Blue shrugged. The scent of burned metal, ionized crystal and smoldering wood filled the air. “Just another… damn thing lost to those… those…” Her breath caught in her throat and she rubbed her eyes. “Those pirate bastards. They… they never stop taking from me. Never.”

Shadow remained silent for a moment, before gently asking, “You want to talk about it, Blue?”

Blue turned to stare at the taller mare. “You called me ‘Blue.’”

Shadow smiled. It was a soft, gentle thing, with the same warmth and comfort Blue had seen when she’d first woken up—well, more like when she could finally see after waking up.

The smile reminded her of somepony else… and she thought she was okay with that.

Blue found herself smiling slightly in return even as she felt her cheeks heat up for some reason or another.

“Well, that is your name, right?” Shadow asked. “Blue Venture?”

Blue thought about it. Then she turned to look at Greystern, bellowing at somepony she couldn’t quite make out. Finally, she did something she hadn’t done since the Icarus had been lost.

She smirked.

“Actually?” Blue’s eyes slid back to Shadow. “I think I’d like it if you called me ‘Bee’.”

Shadow cocked her head. “Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s an old nickname I’ve hated for years. Greystern’s not the first to call me that.” Blue shrugged, looking away and rubbing her mane. “But when you say it… it sounds… I don’t know… what’s the word…?”

“Friendly?” Shadow suggested.

When Blue looked back, Shadow’s eyes twinkled.

“Yeah,” Blue admitted with a nod. “It’s been some time since I’ve had anypony call me anything friendly. I’m… not usually very good with other ponies.”

“Sounds lonely.”

There was something in Shadow’s voice. Some note of resonance, like finding the sweet spot in the alignment of a crystal inside its conductor cage. For just a moment, Blue caught something behind Shadow’s eyes, as if a veil had dropped.

Blue wasn’t very good at reading other ponies. Once, she’d had Lunar there to help her with that. And she’d gotten better, though she’d… lost a lot of progress when the Icarus had gone down. Despite all that, she found herself able to actually get a decent read on Shadow. In fact, she seemed to be able to read her just as well as…

Blue wondered just how much of the pony who’d apparently saved her life was a front. She’d seen it before. She’d met plenty of two-faced ponies before. But that’s not what Shadow felt like. It felt like Shadow actually cared, but there were things she needed to keep to herself.

Loneliness apparently wasn’t one of those things.

“It is lonely.” Blue swallowed. “Say… would you… like to come up to Canterlot with me? You know, once we escape this whole deathtrap of a forest?”

Shadow’s snaggletooth smile reappeared in an instant. “I didn’t realize you were that forward.”

Blue instantly went crimson. Despite everything, she couldn’t deny this was a blush and then some. “T-That’s not… I mean… that’s not at all what I meant but then again I really wouldn’t… you’re teasing me again, aren’t you?”

“You catch on quick.” Shadow’s eyes danced in the moonlight. “To answer your question? Sure. Anyway, with that wing, you’ll probably need somepony to look after you for a bit.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Blue protested.

“Oh shush,” Shadow waved a hoof in dismissal. “I’ll make you a deal. You show me around Canterlot after you’re all healed up and we’ll call it even. But you have to show me your version of Canterlot.”

“My version?” Blue blinked a few times.

“Yeah!” Shadow’s smile never faded. “I’d love to see how those airships get made. Maybe see some of that fancy tech behind that tool of yours. Stuff like that.”

Blue blinked a few times. She thought about what Lunar would tell her to say. It took a matter of seconds.

“It’s a deal,” Blue answered with a tiny, shy smile.

“Sounds good then.” Shadow beamed at her.

Greystern shouted something about getting the crew underway. Hindsight had apparently returned. Blue turned to look at him—only to see a hulking figure moving in the brush to their right.

“What—”

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Shadow said when she followed Blue’s gaze. “He’s not going to be eating anypony tonight.”

“He?”

“Just a manticore. He’s how I found you. He had been looking for a snack. I convinced him to look somewhere else.”

Blue slowly turned around and gaped at Shadow as she processed those words and made the connection between the paw prints she’d seen earlier and this new data.

“Are you telling me… that you saved me from a manticore… before I even woke up?”

“Well, you were pretty out of it.” Shadow shrugged as if she’d shooed away nothing more than a vaguely-annoyed squirrel instead of a monster that could have swallowed Shadow in one bite. “Don’t worry, it was a short fight. I really just bopped him on the nose.”

“You took on a manticore to save me.” Blue said, as if restating it might make it clearer.

“If you’re going to make a big case out of it, then yes.” Shadow rolled her eyes. “Seriously, it’s like nopony ever saved your life before.”

“I thought you just woke me up…” Blue muttered, eyes wide in shock. “You actually took on a manticore… a real live Everfree manticore…”

“He was just a hungry kitty,” Shadow replied. “It’s not a big deal.”

Blue stared at her, her jaw hanging open. “Who are you?”

“How many times you going to ask me that?”

“As many as it takes to get an answer I’m happy with!” Blue cried, waving her hooves in the air.

Shadow smiled again, another smile of something approaching fondness.

“How about a friend, then?”

“A friend?” Blue blinked a few times. That hadn’t been an expected result. “Really?”

“Sure!” Shadow replied. For a moment, her veil dropped again, though Blue couldn’t quite tell what was behind it this time. “I could probably use one… and you definitely could. Does that satisfy you?”

“A friend…” Blue murmured, smiling a little to herself and a lot to Shadow. “Yeah… I guess it does.”

“Little Bee! Get your tail and the tail of tall, dark and spooky over here now!” Greystern bellowed. “We’re moving out!”

For the first time since Blue had met the captain, Greystern’s shouts didn’t bother her at all.

“Coming!” Blue called back as she climbed to her hooves, Shadow doing the same.

“Bee, I hate to tell you this…” Shadow whispered, her eyes dancing. “But that captain? He’s kinda a jerk. Would you mind if I helped him figure that out on the way out of here?”

Blue smile instantly shifted into a smirk. “Go for it, please.”

Shadow let out a happy little giggle and the two friends trotted toward the crew of the fallen Silver Lining.

As they walked, Blue looked up into the night sky and the great shining sphere of the Moon hanging over them.

“I guess Luna might still be looking out for us…” Blue murmured to herself.

Shadow stumbled. “W-what?”

Blue turned and smiled at her. “Before we crashed, I remember asking the Moon if Princess Luna was still out there somewhere. Why she left. If she cared. And… a few other things. A little while later, a strange batpony comes out of nowhere and saves my life.” Her smile widened. “I’d take that as her still caring. Call me silly, but I do.”

Shadow stared at her for a long moment, her face unreadable. Her ears flipped back and forth. Her eyes darted between Blue and the Moon.

“Shadow?”

Finally, Blue’s new friend smiled a completely different smile.

“I believe she looks out for us,” Shadow whispered, though Blue had no idea why. “And she cares. A lot.”

“Batpony intuition?” Blue said with a little smirk.

Shadow returned the smirk. “Something like that.”

“Well, I won’t argue with my guardian batpony.”

Shadow snickered. “Good. I’d hate to have to knock you out and carry you out of here, Bee. That’s what happens when you argue with batponies, you know.”

Blue blushed again and looked away. The crew had started to move into the forest proper.

“You do that a lot, you know,” Shadow commented.

“What?” Blue asked, not daring to look back.

“Blush.”

“Nope!” Blue said loudly. “I never blush. For any reason. At all. Ever.”

“Whatever you say, Bee.” Shadow laughed. “But I’ll have you know, batponies have excellent eyesight. Especially under the light of the Moon. Legends say it was a gift from Luna.”

Blue smiled as they entered the forest behind Greystern’s crew.

“So, you’re a gift from Luna, huh?” Blue quipped, glancing to one side.

“Something like that.” Shadow’s eyes sparkled.

“One of the best gifts I’ve ever received.” She wasn’t even sure why she said it… it just felt… right.

For a split second, Blue thought she caught a tiny tinge of pink on Shadow’s face. It was gone a instant later.

Probably my imagination, Blue thought.

Still, it didn’t stop Blue from smiling. Beside her, Shadow giggled quietly. As they headed into the Everfree Forest, the moonlight on Blue's coat felt warmer than ever before.

Maybe tonight would actually turn out decent after all.

Author's Note:

Theme for Silver Lining:

Did I ever mention how a concussion once changed my life? I did? Oh, good.

I hope you've enjoyed the latest outing with Blue "Bee" Venture. The best part is, now you can see where she got her nickname from! I'll give you this little spoiler: with Shadow Blossom's help, she eventually grew to go by that nickname all the time, so by the time she really starts to (rather unintentionally) getting into the adventurer life, everypony knows her as that.

Ironically, while this is the third Unity story to be published, it was actually the first I ever wrote! Written in the middle of our Unity D&D 5e Campaign, I wanted to tell the story of how Bee met Shadow Blossom and how they became friends. I will tease you and tell you that Shadow Blossom is keeping more secrets that you may initially believe. I mean she's definitely hiding something... but just the level of something... phew. Big one.

However, one wonders what might eventually happen if the unresolved plot threads of In Transit actually come back to haunt these two...

I hope you've enjoyed seeing Bee finally finding somepony with a heart strong enough to bring her out of the bubble. She's still very much damaged by what happened in her past, but she's recovering. Maybe Shadow will help her along that road? Only way to find out is stay tuned for more!

Until next time, have a great day and thanks for reading!

-Novel

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

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Rose Quill

Rose Quill #1 · Mar 4th, 2019 · 2 · ·

Bee!

Nova Quill

Nova Quill #2 · Mar 4th, 2019 · 1 · ·

Feel a little bad for pretty much exclusively thinking of her as 'Bee' now that I know she hated it.

That is one toxic freaking crew, my word...

Vaguely Demented

Vaguely Demented #3 · Mar 5th, 2019 · 1 · ·

Very nice.

Matthewl419

Matthewl419 #4 · Mar 6th, 2019 · 1 · ·

Yeaps, this is still amazing.

Fistfire

Fistfire #5 · Mar 7th, 2019 · 1 · ·

Very nice

FanOfMostEverything

FanOfMostEverything #6 · Mar 7th, 2019 · 3 · ·

"GREETINGS, SMALL PONY! WE ARE SHADOW BLOSSOM AND DEFINITELY NOT PRINCESS LUNA!"

In all seriousness, another excellent installment in Bee's eventful life. (Protip: If the mare who built the airship says you're doing it wrong, at least discuss the matter with her, no matter how terrible her social skills are. Physics doesn't care who owns the airship on paper.) Thank you for a great read.

Amber Spark

Amber Spark #7 · Mar 19th, 2019 · · ·

9489734
If it helps, I actually retconned this in our game. She was always called Bee from inception, but when the original idea for Silver Linings was conceptualized, I realized making it a nickname that Shadow used would bond them together better. She would come to accept it later on.

It's why she's never called Bee in the first two stories! (Also, in my editing, I had to constantly replace where I had written "Bee" instead of "Blue")

Amber Spark

Amber Spark #8 · Mar 19th, 2019 · 1 · ·

9495065
Assuming Lunar and Bee ever manage to reconnect... oh yes, that will be an awkward moment. Probably MANY awkward moments.

Amber Spark

Amber Spark #9 · Mar 19th, 2019 · 2 · ·

9495219

"GREETINGS, SMALL PONY! WE ARE SHADOW BLOSSOM AND DEFINITELY NOT PRINCESS LUNA!"

I will confirm she's not Luna! Then again, she does have a thing for the Moon...

Thank you so much! And you are right. Everypony should listen to smol annoying and irritable engineers when they're telling you how the SHIP THEY BUILT WORKS!