The Open Sea

by NahB

New Soil

Twilight stared over the stern of the Free Mare at Torres Island. The island was a wild place – full of dark trees. It bothered Twilight. Not the vibe it gave off, or the size, or how it had been undiscovered – no, where it was located bothered her.

According to her map, Twilight could see that Torres Island was directly above where Everfree Forest was located before the flood. This, of course, should have been impossible – Everfree had been the same height as the neighboring Ponyville, and Ponyville had been sunk. There was no explanation as to how this island could exist.

“I don’t like this,” Rarity said behind her.

Twilight turned to the white unicorn and nodded, a concerned look on her face. “Everfree. It’s impossible, but there it is. We’ve always known that Everfree is… different. I’m not sure we’ll ever know why, but we need to map it. Zecora asked us and is paying us to do it. Let’s go talk to the troops.”

Twilight and Rarity trotted back toward the main deck, and looked at the dozen ponies beneath them.

“Alright folks,” Twilight started, “this is how it is. Torres is a pretty big island. We don’t know how, but it may be connected to the Everfree forest somehow.” This statement caused several gasps to pop up. “So. This is the way we’re doing it, in order to spend the least amount of time possible there. We’re going to split up into four groups – three are going to explore, and the fourth will stay here as backup. Got it?”

The ponies below nodded. “I’ve already decided the groups. I’ve enchanted four new maps to be connected – they will map out everything the holder sees, and will map out what the other maps are showing. This way we’ll be able to find each other easily. So. Here’s the groups.”

Twilight hopped down, and began pointing. “AJ and Fluttershy, you’re with me. Sweetie, Cheerilee and Pinkie are the second group. The third group will consist of Rainbow, Mac, and Bloom. The rest of you will stay here in case of emergency. Got it?”

The groups separated, and stood at attention again, waiting for Twilight’s word. “Each of the expeditionary groups will be joined by a member of the Cult of Fog, for help and to foster some sort of camaraderie. I expect everypony to get along nicely,” Twilight said, staring at the groups. “The Nimbus and her crew are going to be our employers. I want to get along well.”

She walked forward and retrieved four canvas sheets, and focused on them. Her horn glowed, and the canvas pages took on a rough sketch of the Island. She handed these out to certain ponies for each group, keeping one for herself. “Cheerilee and Rainbow are the leaders of their respective groups. Got it? Good. Let’s move,” Twilight ordered.

The three exploration groups entered a couple of smaller boats connected to the mare, and began floating to the Island. A boat exited the Nimbus as well, and all four boats headed for the sandy beach ahead.

As they arrived, they could see that there was quite a bit of wildlife in the forests ahead of them. It made Twilight nervous. The resemblance to Everfree was uncanny.

The groups approached each other. The envoys from the Nimbus were, in fact, Horn, Wing and Hoof. The three separated into the Mare’s groups without a word. Wing joined Rainbow, Hoof joined Cheerilee, and Horn joined Twilight.

“Alright. Here we go. You have any trouble, just hit your map really hard and we’ll come running at the sound it makes.”

The groups nodded and separated. Twilight went Northeast, Applejack trekked to the Northwest, and Rainbow led her group to the West.

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Rainbow Dash
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Rainbow Dash was exasperated. She hated exploration jobs – they were so BORING! Taking ponies or supplies was much more interesting, because you had more action. They’d explored an island before, and the only thing they had found was a bunch of monkeys and birds and bugs and all sorts of stupid stuff.

“C’mon guys, let’s get this done so we can go do whatever these guys want,” Rainbow said, pointing at Wing.

“Speaking o’ that, how come y’all want to hire us after we pulled that job?” Apple Bloom asked Wing.

The gray pegasus simply looked at the mare. “We need help.”

He sounded as if the words were strained, like they were distasteful to say. Rainbow didn’t care, talking to the clients was Twi’s job. “Bloomer, dude’s got his job to do. Don’t complicate it for him by makin’ him talk about it.”

Apple Bloom looked up at the cyan mare flying above them. “Yeah, well, it’s gonna be pretty borin’ if we’re just gonna walk through the island all silent-like. That may be fine for mah brother, but Ah like to do somethin’ more than just walk.”

Rainbow just rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help still thinking of Apple Bloom as a little filly trying to earn her Cutie Mark. Hay, she still was when they’d left the crusaders on Canter Island a while ago.

“Whatever, Bloomer. Sorry, Wing, she’s a talker. You don’t have to pay attention to her if you don’t want.”

Wing smiled. “That’s fine, Rainbow Dash. Just because I’m part of an enigmatic cult doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the company of other ponies.”

Rainbow simply shrugged and kept flying, occasionally looking at her map, watching three trails snake across the island on the canvas.

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Cheerilee
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Cheerilee walked forward with her head held high. The island was peaceful so far, and the forest unthreatening, so she reminisced about her past.

She still remembered vividly the time she had spent as a schoolteacher in Ponyville. She glanced back at Sweetie Belle as she thought of it – oh, how the children grew.

Of course, she’d still been a teacher after the flood, even if she’d had to move to Canter Island to do so. It had been the first island settled by ponies after the Flood, and she’d found a lot of work, continuing the education of displaced fillies and colts, including Sweetie Belle and her classmates.

That’d changed, of course, when Twilight had given her the offer that had changed her life. Continue to teach a dwindling amount of pupils (many were travelling to other Islands or moving to Canterlot), or travel with the Free Mare. It had taken her only a few moments to choose, and she hadn’t once regretted the decision.

She had become somewhat of a “Second Mate,” though Twilight had only designated a “First Mate,” Rarity. It seemed like the Captain always came to her when she needed to know something about the crew that she didn’t want to ask directly, so Cheerilee had made it a point to always know that information.

Cheers, that’s what everypony called her now. She’d hated it at first, a nickname given to her by Rainbow Dash, but it’d grown on the mare.

She looked back at the trio of ponies silently following her. She didn’t know Twilight’s purpose in bringing this group together, but supposed that the captain was trying to open some ponies up to each other.

Being an academic, she was naturally curious about Hoof and the cult he was a part of. She’d heard of it before – before even the Flood. Its home had been White Mountain, now Fog Island, so it hadn’t moved since the Flood. Cheerilee slowed a bit, and came closer to the brown earth pony.

“So, Hoof, what can you tell me about the Cult of Fog?”

He looked at her, disdain in his eyes. “What does the teacher wish to know?”

Cheerilee shook her head, surprised. “How did you know I was a teacher?”

“It’s a part of you. I can see it clear as day. The way you think while you walk, the way you awkwardly asked the first question confirmed it. You’re used to answering questions, not asking them.”

Cheerilee frowned, not sure if she was going to like their new party member. “Okay. So. What can you tell me about the Cult?”

Hoof sighed. “The Cult is old. Very old. Hundreds of years, we’ve watched Equestria grow, making predictions, finding things out. You could say that we have been pure academics until recent history. White Mountain was a secluded place.”

“I’d imagine,” Cheerilee said. “White Mountain was constantly covered in snowfall. It’s a wonder any information about your group left its confines at all.”

“I don’t know what our original purpose was, if it wasn’t simply learning. Then the Great Flood arrived, and it made White Mountain habitable. It was inevitable that ponies would reach it, so we changed the name to Fog Island, after our order, and invited groups there. I don’t know where the Orb of Clouds came from, but apparently it helped our master be able to tell what kind of weather was coming. It’s how we became a part of society.”

Cheerilee processed this information, and was surprised to hear Pinkie ask a question. She was normally quieter when it came to their employers. For some reason, being paid money by ponies put Pinkie off if she didn’t know them well.

“Um, Mister Hoof, if you don’t mind me asking, why is your name Hoof? It doesn’t seem like a normal name for a pony.”

“No, mare, it is a perfectly legitimate question. When one ascends to the upper echelon of the Cult, one gives up their birth name in order to assume the anonymity of observation. We simply learned and reported. Giving up a part of our identity lets us use more objectivity.” Hoof said this with an air that Cheerilee couldn’t identify.

She was learning a lot. She’d have to relate this information to the Captain when she got the chance. Thinking about it, Cheerilee grabbed the map out of her saddlebag and looked at it. She saw the three little lines snaking about it, and wondered why Zecora had come to the Free Mare to do this job when the Royal Fleet could have done so.

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Twilight Sparkle
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“So Horn, what do you think of this island?”

Twilight, unlike her counterparts, was legitimately interested in learning about their new employers in a personal way.

The green unicorn looked at Twilight and grimaced, knowing that there would be no respite if she didn’t get along with the captain of the Free Mare.

“It’s interesting. Impossible, but interesting. We haven’t come across anything that links it to Everfree save for the location. It seems like a normal place to me.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, it’s just so odd. It screams ‘wrong’ but it doesn’t feel threatening or strange at all.”

“Maybe that’s because the entire world functions like Everfree did, Twi,” Applejack said.

Twilight considered it, and nodded. “That could be it. Everfree used to be different from the rest of the areas, but now that everything has its own weather, and the sun and moon control themselves, Everfree is just like everywhere else.”

Horn nodded, if only to contribute. She really wasn’t interested in whys, just hows.

“Well, if it’s all normal, that’s a blessing. We can get this done fast, and… what is that?”

Twilight stopped, causing Applejack, Horn and Fluttershy to stop as well. The lavender unicorn pointed a hoof towards a large opening in a huge boulder in a clearing.

“That’s… odd…” She said.

Fluttershy backed up a little bit. “Twilight, why don’t we just mark the scary, mysterious rock on the map, and keep going?”

Twilight was about to blow her off, but stopped, staring at the boulder. “You know what, Fluttershy? I think you’re-“

Twilight was interrupted by a giant crash. Startled, all four ponies ran into the clearing for visibility. Another crash shook the area.

Twilight, a sinking feeling in her gut, looked at the boulder. Sure enough, a silhouette was making its way out of the hole.

As it walked out, crashes more frequent, all of them stepped back from it.

It finally became identifiable. It was a huge unicorn, larger than life, covered in dirty rags. Behind it dragged a huge, oversized hammer, enveloped in a sickly-looking black color, its magic.

As it exited the rock, it stared at the four ponies ahead of it, and roared, showing impossibly sharp teeth. It raised the hammer.

“Run!” Twilight said. The four ponies scattered as the hammer fell into the spot where Applejack had been, leaving an indentation in the ground.

“Well, horseapples,” Applejack said.

Understatement of the decade, thought Twilight. She needed a way out of there, and a way to keep all her friends as far away from the rock as possible. In fact, they needed to leave Torres and alert-

The hammer swung at her, and she jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, the hammer ripped into her map, causing a huge “clang” to resonate.

That clang was now going to appear in three other places, and all her friends were going to converge on the very spot she wanted them away from.

“C’mon, we gotta beat this thing!” She said, and then cried out in terror as the hammer swung down towards her. It was too late to get out of the way. Twilight closed her eyes, and waited for it to crash down on her.

But it didn’t. She looked up, and saw the hammer being held up by a blob of green magic. “Get out of there you stupid filly!” Horn yelled, sweating. Twilight ran over to the green pony and the hammer fell harmlessly.

Twilight looked at her friends. Applejack was looking for a way to buck the thing into submission. Fluttershy was hiding in a nearby tree, and Horn was tired from stopping the hammer.

Twilight had no idea what to do. Her friends were on their way here, possibly their doom. So she did the only thing she could think of. She charged the beast.

“You’re going down, you abomination!” She yelled, running at full speed.

The beast didn’t flinch at all. It just responded by raising its giant hammer again.

Twilight formulated a plan quickly. Without warning, she teleported behind the beast. With a snarl, it turned around, its hammer trailing its head.

Twilight jumped to her right and shot a beam of magic at the hammer, causing its momentum to carry it past where the beast intended. Twilight took the opportunity to shoot another beam of magic at its forehooves.

The beast, distracted with the Hammer, fell when it was hit. The hammer dropped to the ground, and it attempted to get up.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Twilight picked up the hammer with her own magic (and immediately grunted, it being extremely heavy) and held it against the beast, pinning it to the ground. The Beast tried to steal it back from her, but she held fast.

She finally rested a moment. The fight had seemed like forever, but had in reality only been a couple seconds. She knew that adrenaline was to blame – she’d been in difficult fights before.

But now she had a dilemma. She had a couple options-
1. Reason with the beast. Get it to leave and never bother them again. Unlikely to solve the problem.
2. Bind the beast. May or may not work.
3. Kill the beast. Would fix problem for sure.

But this third solution bothered her, and for good reason.

Twilight Sparkle had never killed anything, to her knowledge. Every opponent she had faced, she had incapacitated, bound, stopped, or calmed. She had never, in all her years, had to kill another being, be it sentient or not.

But this was different. This beast obviously was set there to protect this area. It would not stop. She could tell with its struggling – it didn’t care that it might die now. It kept fighting.

She had to kill it. And before her other friends got here. Applejack and Fluttershy would witness it, as well as Horn, but nopony else.

She nerved herself… and a sob broke out, and her control on the hammer threatened to fail. She had to do it… but dear sweet Celestia she didn’t want to.

But it must be done.

Twilight raised the hammer. The beast took the opportunity to begin to rise-

And the lavender unicorn, tears streaming down her face, brought the hammer down as hard as she could on the beast’s head.

It twitched once, then moved no more.

Twilight sat down hard, and began to cry as she was overwhelmed by emotion.

Comments

[NahB]

Sorry about the herky-jerkiness of this chapter, but I'm trying to inject some background information that's been missing.

Yay for cliche random huge beast toting an oversized weapon guarding a cliche scary-looking cave-like thing.
Get over it. Twilight needs it.

Next chapter is either tomorrow or wednesday. Pinkie Promise.

[Rask]

Begging the captain's pardon... The Cheerilee section seemed off. Did Hoof call Pinkie Pie a pegasus? Sweetie Belle is a unicorn and Cheerilee with Pinkie Pie are ponies. What is that whole thing about Mentor-Mentee with Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle? They are currently in different groups. Mistakes?

[NahB]

1125894

Quite so. I got myself mixed up

[NahB]

Fix'd. Thankee quite a bit. Methinks it's time for me to get a proofreader or something.

[Rask]

1125941

Your welcome Herr captain. I am going to fade into mist.

[dankmememaster420]

Cave pony

[Cryoshell]

An island without any possibility of being there? I'm suspecting discord...