The Open Sea

by NahB

C15 - Shore Party

Twilight Sparkle

“Why is DISCORD on this ship? And why is he trapped in that same box that you were in?”

“I do not know, Twilight.”

“Feathers,” Quickwing said. “I’d hoped you’d know. There’s no precedent for this kind of thing.”

“I wonder what happened,” Twilight started. “Maybe the griffons attacked and found Discord down here, and then tried to sink the ship?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I just know that this is a complete mess and I have no clue what to do,” Quickwing responded. The three ponies sat in deep thought for a moment, attempting to formulate plans. Twilight was the first to perk her head up.

“Maybe if we can get Discord transferred to your ship, captain, we can take him with us.”

The pegasus looked at her like she’d gone bonkers. “Are you insane? Why would I take this thing on my ship? If anything, I say the griffons were right! Burn this smuggler ship into the ocean and let him rot there until the end of time.”

“I’m not so sure, Lieu- Captain.” Luna interjected. “This magical prison acts like a siphon, draining the excess magic off of him.” Her horn glowed. “It’s going somewhere south, but it’s so far off I can’t get anything but a general direction.”

Twilight stared at the alicorn. “You’re saying we should follow the path?”

“Not right away, not without preparation, but I think this is worth investigating.”

Quickwing was torn. Twilight could tell that he wanted nothing more than to let the draconequus sink to the bottom of the ocean, but did not want to go against his princess. After a moment, he slammed a hoof into the wood. “Fine. We’ll see about transferring him. It’ll be difficult though. I’ll bring some unicorns down.”

The Pegasus left them alone momentarily with the draconequus. Twilight moved forward and probed the box with her magic. “This is different. Your ‘prison’ was laced with antimagic, but this seems to be chaotic. We should be able to manipulate it with simple telekinesis, but I’m afraid to try.”

Luna stepped forward. “I will, then.” Without a moment’s hesitation, she lifted the spirit’s prison off the ground anticlimactically.

“Well then,” Twilight stated, a bit surprised

“I would appreciate it if we moved quickly, Twilight. This is quite heavy.”

The lavender unicorn nodded, running up to see a surprised Quickwing. “Captain, Luna has the spirit and is carrying him up.”

“Fine. Let’s go,” he answered, turning around and ushering the group of unicorns he was escorting back towards the entrance. A short walk and they found themselves back on the deck of the soldiers’ ship, discord’s prison sitting on deck. The rest of the ponies were pointedly ignoring it.

“If it’s a problem, I will move him into the room where we are staying,” Luna suggested.

“That’d be a good idea,” the Lieutenant responded. “Alright you lazy ponies, let’s get our ship moving to Windfall!”

Cheerilee

“Land, ho!” Rainbow called from the crow’s nest. Cheerilee walked to the bow of the ship and pulled a spyglass to her. Indeed, Windfall Island was visible on the horizon, and was growing at a fast rate. The earth pony mare trotted above to the top deck and motioned for the rainbow-maned pegasus to fly down to her.

“What’s up, Cap?” Rainbow asked as she lowered herself to Cheerilee’s level.

“Fly over to the Thorn and find out what Rose intends to do.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and shot over to the other ship. Cheerilee watched as the pegasus hovered over Roseluck for a moment and then returned to the Free Mare.

“She says that she’ll probably take off now that Windfall is in view. Pirates aren't really welcome at all there.”

Cheerilee nodded. “I don’t blame her.” The mare walked to the side of the ship and waved at the expectant captain, who waved back. Shortly after, the Thorn began to float away from them, turned west.

“Captain!”

Cheerilee turned around to find Scootaloo and Big Macintosh looking at her. “Captain, Mac and I thought it might be a good idea to pick up some long-term supplies on Windfall. Who knows when we might be landing next?”

She regarded Scootaloo for a moment, struck by how much the filly had grown up. The horrible world forced upon them had necessitated much of the growth the pegasus had undergone, but even then, Scootaloo had matured into a responsible, down-to-earth mare who cared about those around her.

“That’s a good idea. Take Sweetie with you, she could talk her way out of a lynching if she had to.”

Scootaloo nodded and walked away, Macintosh following. Windfall was much closer now, and Cheerilee had to come up with a plan to keep busy over the next several days. Should she go with a shore party and take odd jobs on the island? Keep away from town and stay on the ship? There were so many variables, so many decisions, that Cheerilee didn’t even notice Rainbow Dash approach.

“Cap?”

“Hm? What do you need, Rainbow?” Cheerilee asked, only slightly paying attention.

“Where do we take her? Go to the city, or around to one of the coves?” Rainbow seemed insistent, more so than usual.

Cheerilee glanced at the growing island, and was perturbed to see a huge number of ships in the main harbor. It would be a jungle getting the Mare out of there with all of the ships clogging their exit.

“Take us to the hidden cove on the east side of the Island. We’ll be safe there.”

Rainbow nodded and went to relay the orders to Applejack.

Cheerilee decided then to go to the town with a small party, if only to find out what the commotion was. Because Sweetie, Mac, and Scootaloo would be purchasing supplies, Cheerilee would be limited on her choices. She needed a token force on the ship in case of attack, but couldn’t leave herself helpless on the island, either. She looked around the deck, noting each crewmember and considering their worth in various situations.

After a few moments’ deliberation, Cheerilee decided to take Rainbow and Apple Bloom with her on the Island. That way, she’d have a decent fighting force, while the ship was still moderately protected until the other party got back.

A while later, after they had dropped anchor and the supply party had left the ship, Cheerilee departed with Rainbow and Apple Bloom.

“While we’re here,” Cheerilee started, “don’t call me captain. We need to act like nothing’s wrong, and we’re still at full capacity.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Good idea. No one would try anything knowing Cap – er, Twilight was around.” They quickly brought their skiff to shore and exited, finding the path that led into the island.

“What’s our main objective here, Cheers?” Rainbow asked.

“We need to find out what’s wrong in the bay, and what the situation with the fighting is. It’d also be nice to line up a job for when this is all over.”

The other two mares nodded, and they walked in peace along the path. Before long, the path dumped them on a larger one that obviously was the main travelling route on the island, leading between one of the minor villages and Windfall itself. There was no activity along it, which should have set Cheerilee off immediately. The three of them moved inland until Rainbow Dash spotted something.

“Smoke!” She pointed a hoof and rose into the air.

“See what it is. We’ll wait here.”

The pegasus flew off towards the smoke, which was also the same direction as Windfall. A few short moments later, she landed next to the other mares. “Windfall’s under attack! Severed troops are everywhere!”

“Hold, strangers!”

All three privateers looked towards the new voice, and were shocked to see several soldiers advancing upon them.

“This island is now under Severed control. Surrender yourselves and explain your presence, and your stay in prison will be short if we are satisfied with your answer.

Cheerilee let herself have half of a smile. “Well, if you’re going to be so generous about it…” She readied herself and saw the other two do similarly out of reflex. “We can’t help but spit at such a laughable choice. What do Severed troops want with an independent island like Windfall? It’s too far from equestrian territory to be of consequence.”

The earth pony laughed. “This is not a war against Equestria. This is a war to unite all the islands, and become the World Republic. Windfall is simply resisting change.”

Cheerilee looked sideways at her companions. Apple Bloom mouthed the words “World Republic” like it left a sour taste in her mouth, and Rainbow Dash was withholding laughter.

“Um. Well, mister soldier, if you could get out of our way, we have some companions in town that we’d like to meet up with,” Cheerilee intoned, doing her best to convey disinterest.

“I’ll do no such thing. Soldiers, detain them!” The group charged them.

Cheerilee took advantage of the distance to measure their opponents. Leading the group was the earth pony that had spoken, a large stallion that looked to be all brawn and no agility. Behind him was a pair of pegasi that carried large staves, meant to injure and incapacitate, not kill. However, on either side of them were two more earth ponies that held swords in their mouths, which looked incredibly deadly.

Apple Bloom had been training to fight, and could handle herself. Rainbow Dash, too. If anything, Cheerilee was the worst fighter present. It was only natural that she divide things the easiest way. “Dash, fliers. Bloom, swords. I’ll take the leader.”

With those quick orders, the three ponies sprang into action. Cheerilee quickly blocked the other two as she advanced on the lead soldier. She heard sounds of scuffle as they began to circle each other.

“So, a Mare challenges a Stallion? Awful pretentious of you. I don’t see how you can win this.”

“You’re just a brute, Severed. I can take you, easy,” Cheerilee responded. The stallion gave off a war cry at the insult, and charged her. The interim captain quickly stepped aside, letting him pass harmlessly. “Is that all you've got?”

“Wragh!” He charged her again, but a little slower this time. Cheerilee sidestepped again, but shot out her foreleg in an attempt to clothesline the soldier. The stallion anticipated this and responded by rearing up short of her and bucking her in the side, causing her to go flying into a tree. The impact shook her, but years on the ocean had toughened her hide.

“Is that the best you have? Let me show you how it’s done.”

Cheerilee charged forward herself, but began to move erratically, as if she was dancing. The soldier was confused, and wasn’t able to respond as she suddenly shot forward and slammed her shoulder into his head. He staggered back, slightly dazed. Cheerilee rose up on to her hind legs and began to pummel the soldier with her forelegs.

“Your loss here, soldier, will be a result of rigid training.” She dodged a clumsy attack to her midsection and slammed a hoof into his head, sending him reeling. “You don’t know how to fight someone who has trained herself using her own methods.” With finality, she switched to her forelegs and slammed her hind legs into him, sending him into a tree as well. His head hit the trunk of a tree with finality, and he failed to rise again.

Panting, Cheerilee let herself look around, hoping her companions fared just as well. She was glad to see three of the attackers down, but the final soldier was standing his ground with a sword at the ready while Dash threatened him from above with a stolen stave, and Apple Bloom pressed her advantage. Cheerilee took advantage of the moment.

“Hey, severed dude!”

“Huh?” His sudden confusion at being addressed during battle left Apple Bloom an opening. The hoof-to-hoof fighter darted in and slammed a foreleg into his midsection, sending a nasty feeling through the soldier’s body. He collapsed to the ground, dropping his sword.

“Well, that was a nice little fight,” Rainbow said as she dropped to the ground, discarding the stave.

“Yes, but that time we were barely ahead in odds.”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Ah, it was easy. What’s wrong, Cheerilee? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Cheerilee stared ahead, where the smoke was rising. “Scootaloo, Sweetie and Mac are in that mess.”

Sharing a horrified look, the three mares took off at a gallop towards the city.

Comments

[NahB]

So. Um. In all the craziness of getting ready for Bronycon, I wanted to make sure I had this chapter up for y'all before I left.

I was checking out some of the info for Rough Edges to see what I had told the readers about the story, and then I realized there were no comments.

Y'all always comment.

So naturally, I checked the story.

I forgot to publish the chapter.

DERP.

[NahB]

On another note, though most of the time has been spent recovering from the con, I have written a bunch for a new chapter for Rough Edges, and I've also written more for The Open Sea.

Expect more fighting scenes, and mostly Cheers. I wrote most of that fighting scene on whim, and I thought I did okay. I'll be doing more planning for the next ones.

[totallynotabrony]

I noticed a few minor punctuation/capitalization errors.

Also, this story is currently in the featured box!

Edit: Um, and then my update of And Then, Twilight Was a Marine pushed it out. Sorry.

[NahB]

3015609

Thank ya for pointing that out. I didn't have a lot of time for anything last week, let alone proofreading.

Don't be sorry. Just gives me more reading material!

[Weeb trash]

More plz...