The Open Sea

by NahB

C14 - Number Two

Cheerilee

Cheerilee stood at the front of the Free Mare, glancing left and right occasionally to check the horizon. That, and to brood over the fact that the Thorn was alongside them. Though she was grateful for the assistance, it didn’t help the fact that Twilight’s plan had been ruined. As it was, it was unlikely that they would have been pursued. Now, however, it was almost a certainty. Windfall wouldn’t be much of a refuge if they would be hounded by the Equestrians at every turn.

Cheerilee’s ears perked as she heard the ‘clip-clop’ of hooves behind her. She stood silent and didn’t look at the pony that had approached, waiting for whoever it was to speak his or her mind.

“Windfall might not be the best choice anymore.” Surprisingly, this was coming from Rainbow Dash. Cheerilee glanced back at the rainbow-maned pegasus, mildly surprised at the mare’s mild manner. “What, surprised I can think ahead?”

“Honestly, Rainbow?” Cheerilee started. “Yes.”

Rainbow chuckled. “I’m sort of surprised too, but conversation’s all dried up and awkward so I started to think for a bit. Trying to keep my mind off the shore party.”

Cheerilee nodded. “You’re right – Windfall probably isn’t the best choice for us right now. Hay, a Severed-held Island might be better.”

The pegasus gave a goofy grin at that. “We’re assuming that just because it’s closer to Equestria that it’s held by the navy.”

Cheerilee chuckled. “You’re right there, but what can we do? The nearest Island other than Windfall or Torres is Fog… and well…”

“You’re right,” Rainbow responded with her scratchy voice. “We don’t have a lot of options. I guess… to Windfall we go?”

Cheerilee gave the pegasus a goofy grin. “To Windfall we go.”

Twilight Sparkle

“Check.”

Twilight looked at the board, and had to agree with the assessment, seeing the Bishop’s direct line of attack on her King.

She made the obvious move of putting the pawn in the way of the attack, effectively blocking Luna’s entire offense until she could bring other pieces to bear.

The two mares stared at the small black-and-white checkered board, figuring out their moves. Elsewhere in the cabin, Rarity was mending some of the soldiers’ uniforms, and Spike was playing word games with Redheart.

Luna moved a knight forward in order to put some pressure on Twilight’s rook – which she immediately rectified, having seen the move several turns ago. Luna frowned at how quickly the unicorn had responded.

“Must you be so obvious, Twilight?”

Twilight, who was barely paying attention to the game at all, was pulled out of her reverie. “I’m sorry?”

“I realize that you have become quite good at this game from spending so long at sea, but do you have to rub it in my face?” Luna asked with a half-grin. Twilight blushed and looked down.

“Sorry. My mind’s just occupied is all.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going into one of your funks again, Twilight,” Spike said from across the room, concerned.

At this the mare smiled. “Don’t worry, Spike. I’m just planning our next move. I’m debating whether we should stay at Canter, or go looking for Celestia.”

“Whatever you choose is fine with us, dear,” Rarity responded half-heartedly, still focused on her repairing.

Luna raised an eyebrow at the comment, which Twilight noticed. “Something wrong, pr- Luna?”

“It just amazes me that your friends would follow you with such trust.”

“She’s our captain, Princess,” Redheart spoke out. The other two nodded.

“I mean, she’s still our friend, but her being the Captain has become a part of our lives. We trust her to guide us well, and she trusts us to follow,” Rarity put in.

Twilight blushed again and hid her head modestly. “Honestly, it’s a question of ability and not ambition. Were there somepony with more ability, I’d totally let them be captain.” She smirked. “Rarity over there isn’t too shabby, which is why she’s my first mate.”

“What made you decide to bring her along, then, if she is your second? Shouldn’t she have left with the others in your party?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. First, because I needed her along in case things got really ugly; she’s often a better talker than I am.” The unicorn let out a shudder. “If you hadn’t been there, Luna…” she trailed off, thinking again.

“So you left this mare Cheerilee in charge? Are you sure she is up to the task? I have not before heard of her.”

“She was a schoolteacher in Ponyville before the flood, your highness,” Rarity offered. “She taught both my and Applejack’s sister, and has displayed a good head for leadership in the past.”

Luna pondered Rarity’s words, before nodding. She moved a pawn forward to threaten Twilight’s forward-most pawn, a move that Twilight frowned at.

“Why did you-“

The alicorn cut her off with a hoof. “You know I’m not going to answer that question. That’d be telling.”

Twilight gave the royal a glare that couldn’t possibly be misinterpreted. It clearly conveyed a “I hate you for this” in all caps.

Before the conversation could be continued, there came sudden movement from above. The room’s occupants looked upward, noting the sudden increase of movement on the deck.

The door to their little room opened with a bang. A soldier burst into the room. “Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna; Please come up to the deck!”

The two mentioned mares quickly assumed standing positions, sparing a small glance. They followed the soldiers out, leaving behind their three companions to wonder.

The short walk up to the deck was tense, with almost no soldiers belowdecks. The wooden planks of the ship thunked dully as the ponies rushed to the deck, wondering what the problem could be. Their curiosity was soon sated as the open sea came into view, ruined only by a single burning ship on the horizon.

“They’re flying no colors,” Quickwing notified them from behind. “We’re moving to intercept them and hopefully nab some survivors. There seem to be no other ships around, but that might change as we move forward. I ask that you both be present for this, so there are no surprises.”

A shocked Luna only nodded, staring at the alighted vessel, while Twilight deigned to respond with “Aye, Captain. Do you want help?”

Quickwing shook his head. “No, we’ll be just fine here. We’ll intercept in just a few moments now.”

Twilight took her place by Luna, both staring down the ship. “It worries me that you are not shocked by this occurrence, Twilight.”

Twilight shook her head. “I’ve seen it before. It’s a horrible choice – die in the flames, or attempt to jump into the saltwater with a chance of a worse, drowning death. Salt water gets awfully tempting after a couple days without water.”

Luna looked down at the smaller pony. “It is a harsh place you live in, Twilight Sparkle.”

The lavender unicorn gave a half smile at that. “It’s a harsh place WE live in, Luna. We can only accept this and move on. Here, we’re almost upon the ship.”

As the soldiers’ vessel came up to the ship on fire, it became clear that it was a pirate vessel. There were no screams of terror, no ponies attempting to put the fire out.

“Could somepony have gutted the ship?” Luna asked as some of the soldiers made their way over to quell the flames.

“They could all have been taken prisoner,” Twilight remarked as she watched the other ponies work quickly. Within only a few moments, the flames had died down to embers. “It’s not uncommon to occur among pirate vessels. Nopony looks kindly on those who raid others’ livelihoods.”

“It seems quite overdone, though, to set the ship aflame and let it go.”

Twilight tossed her mane. “Honestly, it’s a bit showy for the open ocean, you’re right. Must be special. Hold on, I’m going to take a closer look.” With a pop, the unicorn disappeared. Luna was unable to even get a word off before the teleport was complete, and Twilight reappeared on the other ship.

The unicorn and sometimes-pirate searched the ship’s deck for any signs of attackers, ignoring the soldiers around her, who in turn ignored her, assuming she had permission. The ship was completely clean, not a single mark denoting a struggle. The fire damage was extensive, causing much of the evidence to be lost. She quickly made her way to the captain’s cabin, which was locked. A quick grin flashed across her face as she smashed the lock with a ball of telekinetic power.

The room was a mess. There were papers all over, and gold coins littered the floor. Twilight, succumbing to years of training, teleported many of the coins to her saddlebags located inside the soldiers’ ship. Meanwhile, she checked out the walls of the cabin, which had remained mostly unharmed by the flames. Signs of a scuffle were apparent throughout, most of them either indents of hooves or claw marks.

She approached a wall and looked closely at the wall marks, “feeling” them with her magic. Satisfied with her findings, she turned around to be met by a lieutenant Quickwing standing in the doorway.

“Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing on this ship?”

“Investigating.”

“Might I remind you, Miss Sparkle, that you are a fugitive at the moment and you are only free of shackles because of the Princess of the Night’s presence? Who, might I add, is quite distraught at your sudden disappearance?”

“I’m well aware. However, are you aware that this ship was attacked by Griffons?”

The soldier frowned, trotting forward to meet the unicorn. “Griffons?”

“These talon marks,” Twilight started, pointing a hoof at the gouges, “are the work of griffons. What I can’t figure out is why. The cabin is filled with trade route information on ponies only. If it was an official Griffon ship, why didn’t they take the info or the money?” Twilight had left enough of the coins on the ground to make it appear as if they had been undisturbed.

“This is troubling, but neither of us are in position to make any sort of judgment about this. Please return to the ship, and I will tell you what I can when we are done.” The pegasus trotted out of the room, expecting complete compliance. Twilight stuck her tongue out at the captain as she teleported several more coins into her bags. Satisfied with her petty revenge, she returned to her spot next to the lunar alicorn, who was relieved to see her safe.

“Twilight, please notify me if you plan on doing something like that. You scared me half to death.”

“Sorry, Pr- Luna. If I had waited, I likely wouldn’t have found what I wanted.”

“And what did you find?”

Twilight scrunched up her face. “I’m not really sure. I’ll see what Quickwing finds first.”

Several moments passed as the two mares watched the other ponies go about their business. Eventually, the pegasus lieutenant came abovedecks and flew over to them, a strange look on his face. “You’re not going to believe what we found.”

“I’m pretty sure whatever it is, Captain, we can handle it,” Twilight responded, indignant.

“You’re going to have to come with me to the ship’s cargo hold.”

The lieutenant flew back to the other ship without another word, and the two mares followed, Twilight through teleportation and Luna through her own power of flight. The path to the cargo hold led them down into the ship, bypassing several burned-out sections. Twilight marveled at how it was still afloat. Eventually, they came upon the hold. They bypassed the normal areas and Quickwing revealed a sliding bottom, often used by pirates and smugglers. The three ponies ducked into the dark, damp area, lit up by a single lantern held aloft by a soldier.

In the corner of the smuggler’s hold was a large rectangular prism, transparent all the way through.

“Okay,” Twilight started, “If I go through any more shocks this week I’m going to have to blow something up very violently.”

Luna just narrowed her eyes and hissed, “Discord.”

Author's Note:

I leave you on another cliffhanger for my triumphant return! After seven months of waiting, The Open Sea gets a chapter! Yes, I am coming back, and I already have the next chapter in production, popping in sometime next week after I give Prepare for Ponies an update.

In other news, I am attending BronyCon this year with my friend Big-Boss (of facebook's The Brony Archives), OtakuBrony(Cool Story Bro, but it needs more Ponies), Kai (Ponies, Ponies everywhere), the admin of Equestrian Mental Institution, and another friend of mine whom I've known for several years.

Please, contain your orgasms.

I will also not be offended if you fail to give a shit.

Comments

[totallynotabrony]

[Higgle]

...

Behold my tears of joy.

[StormyVenture]

So, they found Discord or suspect him of fault in something?