After five days of traveling over the seemingly endless ocean, our heroes finally receive a few distant signals from other Atlantic Ships...

Unfortunately, though, tension quickly builds up for some of our heroes... enough tension that could risk someone getting hurt, if not tended to quickly.

With a long, drawn-out yawn, Justin slowly woke up from his bed. Looking across the room, he smiled when he saw his beloved daughter, Ruby, fast asleep on her own bed that rested just across the room.

Letting out a light chuckle, Justin slowly stood from his bed, and gently placed a kiss on his daughter's scalp; avoiding the horn on her forehead in the process. Needless to say, he noticed her mouth form a weak smile in response, as she continued to lightly snore. Then, Justin walked back to his bed, and re-attached his armor pieces over his clothing. (At this point, his armor pieces included a leather vest, an extra shoulder pad to go over his originally uncovered left shoulder, and a pair of leather gloves to go over his fingerless gloves that were attached to his jacket's sleeves. Then, the additional attachments like belts, saddlebags, and weapons were added over that.)

After checking himself in his mirror one last time, Justin gave himself an approving nod, then stepped out of the room, and into the hallway.

When he made it out of the main quarters, Justin walked up to the rails, and watched the late night sky, where the moon was slowly lowering to make way for the incoming sun. All he could hear at this point was the waves of the water, the occasional grunt that the Angler Whale would make, and the occasional scampering underneath, where Stealth would be maintaining the metals that made the ship move.

"You're up early." Justin heard Gilded say from behind him.

Turning around, Justin nodded his head and replied, "I could say the same for you, bud."

Gilded chuckled at his friend before walking up beside him, and relaxing on the rails; standing at Justin's right. "Well, what can I say? Being a Mercenary requires little sleep, and a watchful eye."

Justin nodded his head in response. "True, true... but you know we have an Angler Whale in front of our ship, right? Not many people out there would be stupid enough to face something like that."

"Yeah... even so, we can never be too careful. The Black Wings might be filled with pirates, but after these past few weeks, it's safe to say that they are more clever than we took them for at day one."

Again, Justin nodded his head. "Yeah..." Suddenly, a realization hit him. "By the way... how exactly did you know about them back then? I'm aware that most of them were Mercenaries who disbanded, and dedicated their lives to a more evil cause, but... it's no coincidence that there were more on different continents, now that I think about it."

With a sigh, Gilded nodded his head. "You would be right about that, Justin... the Black Wings are, without a doubt, more than that group that disbanded. In fact, they've been a threat before I was even born."

Then Justin rubbed his chin in thought. "So... you knew about them your whole life... but not in a personal level?"

Gilded shook his head. "No... at least, when it came to a personal level, it wasn't in... the best of terms, per se."

Justin nodded his head again. "I understand... and you must've been worried about our friendship back then because they were, at first, your enemies?"

Gilded closed his eyes, and slowly nodded his head. "Yeah... and to this day, I sometimes wonder what would've happened, had I not been there to accidentally drag you all in that mess."

Then, Gilded's eyes widened when he heard Justin lightly chuckle. When he looked at Justin, he asked, "What's so funny?"

"Gilded," Justin began, "you have no idea how much help you've been throughout this journey, do you?"

"Well... not really, no." Gilded replied, before looking at the setting moon.

"Alright, then..." Justin thought for a moment, and began describing certain events Gilded helped them through.

"When Ruby and I were stranded in Gryphonia, who was it that took on that Manticore that nearly took both Ruby's and my life?" Justin asked.

Gilded weakly smiled and replied, "Me... but still, I-"

"You also helped me learn the Common Tongue, did you not? We wouldn't even be having this conversation, otherwise!"

"Yeah... but I don't understand why you-"

"Then there's the time you stopped Ruby from poisoning herself with meat, considering the fact that she's an Alicorn... or as you put it then, a Pony."

"Still, though. Those are simple things compared to what most of the crew did."

"Simple or not... you were the first one who helped us! And if it weren't for you, none of what they did would mean anything, because I wouldn't have been able to fight that Manticore, otherwise!"

Gilded remained silent as Justin pointed out that last statement. Then, he let out a light chuckle, looked out at the horizon, and nodded his head. "Thanks, Justin... I needed that."

Justin then patted his left shoulder and replied, "Any time. Feel free to let me know if anything bothers you. I'll do my best to help out, however I can."

With a nod, Gilded turned to Justin, and gave him a thumbs-up. Then, Justin turned towards the Navigation Room, and took the short trek to the door that led to the hall that could take him to where Marble and Limestone usually stayed. Finally, after taking a deep breath, Justin opened the door, and stepped inside.

"I gotta hand it to ya, Limestone... ya did good over there. I'm surprised ya didn't even hurt ya self when ya punched through that Minotaur's armor!" Marble told her youngest sister. The two of them were sitting on a bench, drinking coffee, and still waking up, though it was clear that Marble Pie was more of a morning person than the average Earth Pony. While Marble was weakly smiling, though, Limestone was utterly depressed. Seeing that her compliment didn't even faze her sister's sorrow, Marble's smile quickly turned into a worried frown. "Look, sis. Boulder didn't sacrifice himself so we could all cry for him. He did it so we can escape that place, and live on!"

At least Limestone reacted to her sister's words that time... though it wasn't the reaction that Marble expected. Instead of a weak smile, Limestone's blank expression turned into a sharp glare, and with both fists clenched, she slammed her fists on the table; causing it to break into little chunks, and fall over. Then she venomously spoke through clenched teeth to her sister.

"Why the buck do you not even care about him, huh?! HE WAS STILL ONE OF OUR FAMILY!" At that point, Marble realized that her sister has officially snapped... something the entire family seemed to have a problem with for countless generations, in fact.

With a returning glare, Marble gripped the collar of her sister's shirt, and pulled her closer to her, retorting in an equally venomous tone, "Don't ya dare think that I don't care about him! I'm just as hurt about his loss as ya are too, sis, but I ain't gonna sit around an' bitch about his death for the rest o' ma life! Who the buck do ya think ya talkin' to, anyways?! An emotionless mare like ah older sister?! Buck, even she cried over his loss, an' yet she an' ah sister Pinkie Pie can still manage to put on a smile today! So why the buck ain't you? Huh?!"

Limestone continued to glare at her sister, as she whispered, "Let go of me."

Marble, however, shook her head and intensified her grip. "I ain't gonna let go of ya, sis." she replied in a whisper.

In a louder tone, Limestone firmly stated, "I said let go of me, Marble!"

Again, Marble shook her head and retorted, "No! I ain't lettin' go of ya, Limestone! Not until ya can the attitude, an' bucking smile again!"

As Marble continued to deny her requests, Limestone's fists balled up, until her arms shook. Then, in a loud outburst, she threw both of her fists into Marble's chest, shouting, "I SAID LET GO!"

Despite their keen senses, Marble took the hit, and instantly flew into the wall, leaving a crater where she landed. Then, she fell from the wall, and onto the ground on her hands and knees, wheezing for breath, while Limestone stood there in shock of her actions.

Slowly, Marble looked up at her sister, revealing the tears in her eyes, as she opened her mouth to say something. Before any words could come out of her mouth, however, she quickly gripped her throat, and coughed out a small hint of blood, which only made Limestone's eyes widen even more, and her jaw to drop. "Oh my gosh! MARBLE!" She shouted, before running up to her sister, and reaching out to help her up.

When she was within reach, however, Marble swatted her hands away, and crawled backwards. Then, in a weak and groggy voice, she stuttered, "W-why... why d-did you just..." Before she could finish her sentence, she coughed up even more blood, before falling on her left shoulder.

"MARBLE! SOMEONE GET IN HERE! QUICK!" Limestone shouted, only for the handle of the room's door to start shaking.

With his voice muffled from the door, Justin asked, "Limestone? What's going on in there?!"

Limestone looked at the door, and shouted, "JUSTIN! GET IN HERE! HURRY!"

Before even a second could pass, the door busted open, and in ran Justin, who quickly noticed Marble passed out on the ground. "Marble?! Limestone, what's going on? What happened?!"

Limestone's tears continuously fell, as she tried explaining the situation. Unfortunate for her, though, she was only able to stutter incomprehensible words.

Not sparing a second, Justin quickly ran up to Marble, and knelt beside her; feeling around for any signs of broken bones. Since he saw thin stream of blood coming from her mouth, he had a feeling the problem was coming from her lungs. As he felt around, he nodded his head in confirmation. "Both of her ribs are broken. She needs medical attention immediately!" Then he looked at Limestone and asked, "Is there a first aid kit in here?"

Limestone nodded her head and ran to the side of the wall where the toppled door rested. There, she opened a small cabinet, and pulled a white box with a red cross on the lid out, and rushed towards her sister, handing the box to Justin in the process. "W-what are you g-going to do, Justin?" she asked in a worried tone.

After digging in the box for a second, Justin pulled out a scalpel and replied, "Well... it might sound gruesome for you, but... since she's bleeding internally, I have to cut her open to sprinkle the healing powder over her ribs directly. Then, I'll have to heal her wounds with the rest of the powder before she loses too much blood."

When Limestone saw the scalpel and heard the news, her pupils shrunk, as she watched the scalpel inch closer to her sister. Then, instinctively, she reached at Justin's right hand (the one that held the scalpel), and said, "W-wait! I've taken first-aid classes! Please let me do this... I want to make things right for my sister... and besides that, you're a male, so... so..."

Justin looked at her closely, before nodding his head, and gently placing the scalpel in Limestone's hand. "Alright... as long as you know what you're doing." Then, he reached in his saddlebag, and pulled three bags of herbal powder from it. After checking the contents to confirm that they were the right ones, he gently placed the three bags on the ground between Limestone and Marble, and turned his head away. "I'll let your sisters know what's going on. Maybe they can help when necessary."

"NO!" Limestone shouted, causing Justin to jump at her sudden outburst.

Confused, he turned around and asked, "Why not? They're your sisters! They need to know this!"

Limestone sat there silently for a moment, before replying, "B-because... because I was the one who did this..."

Justin stood there for a moment, and sighed. "I kinda figured there was more to this. Look, I know you're scared, but even so, if you don't have any help from them, then you're not only risking your relations with your sisters, but also the life of Marble!"

Limestone closed her eyes, and sniffled a few more times. Then, she quickly nodded her head and said, "A-alright, then... p-please! Go get them for me!"

Justin nodded his head and turned to leave. "I'll keep the fact that you did this from them... as long as you tell them."

Limestone nodded her head, and replied, "A-alright. Thank you."

And with that, Justin ran through the hallway, and towards where he figured the other Pie sisters were.

Slowly, Pinkie Pie opened her eyes, yawned, and stretched her arms out, as she sat up from her bunk bed, while Maud rested on the top bunk, sleeping peacefully.

When Pinkie stood from her bed, however, she felt a sudden shudder. "Oh no... the shudders!" she whispered to herself.

Behind her, Maud opened up with a loud gasp, before turning to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie... something's wrong!"

As soon as the two of them were out of bed and in front of the door, a knocking noise was heard from the other side. Then, Justin's voice called from the other side, "Pinkie! Maud! You both need to get to the Navigation Room, pronto! Marble's been hurt badly, and now she's unconscious! Limestone needs both of y'alls help now!"

"WHAT?!" both sisters shouted in unison, before dashing out of the room, and towards the Navigation room in a blurring speed.

Not sparing another moment, Justin quickly followed the two.

When they made it to the Navigation Room, Maud and Pinkie gasped in horror, as they saw Limestone sitting there in front of Marble's unconscious body, crying with her head pointed down.

"Marble?! MARBLE!" Pinkie shouted, before running up to her sisters, and checking Marble for a pulse. When she felt her heartbeat, she noticed right away that her pulse was getting weaker, so she had to act fast. "Limestone, what happened?!"

Limestone tried explaining the situation, but as soon as she saw Maud step in behind Pinkie Pie, her fear overtook her, and only weak whimpers could come out. Even so, she pointed at Marble's chest, and with both of her hands, motioned something breaking.

"H-her ribs are broken?!" Pinkie gasped, while Limestone nodded her head.

Maud turned around and noticed Justin standing at the doorway with his back turned to give the family their privacy. "Justin, we need Zula in here now."

Justin nodded his head and replied, "I'm on it." Then, in the blink of an eye, he ran full-speed through the hallway, and out the door; headed for Zula's room.

Then Maud turned around and noticed the broken table and fallen chairs... which gave her enough evidence that this wasn't just some accident. With that in mind, she felt that she needed proof before any judgements could be made, so she turned to Limestone and looked her in the eye, before slowly walking up to her. "Limestone... what happened?" Her tone showed a slight hint of anger... something that both Limestone and Pinkie always feared, and something that Marble always rebelled against, due to her brash nature.

After gasping for breath several times, Limestone continued to speak, while Pinkie carefully lifted Marble's shirt off, revealing the bruises on her chest... two bruises shaped like a pair of fists. "M-Marble and I... w-we... we..."

As soon as the bruises were revealed and Pinkie noticed them, Pinkie gasped loudly, which caught the attention of Maud. Quickly, Maud walked up to Marble and, as soon as she saw the two bruises, turned back to Limestone; now with a fierce glare on her face. "We'll talk later..." she growled, before turning towards the door, while Zula rushed in, followed by Justin.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Justin asked concernedly, while averting his eyes from Marble's exposed chest.

Pinkie backed away from Marble once Zula knelt over her to take a look, and walked up towards Justin, while her eyes remained locked on Marble. "I... I don't know. I'm n-not even sure what to do myself!"

Zula hummed to herself before taking the scalpel in her right hand. "It is as I have feared... her lungs are punctured by the cracked ribs... I will have to tend to them surgically. Everyone get out!"

At once, everyone nodded their heads and obeyed the shaman. Clearly she was more experienced than any of them. Limestone, however, stayed behind. "I've taken Medical Classes... please, allow me to help, too."

Zula nodded her head and replied, "Very well. I need you to hold her skin open, while I pull the broken ribs out of her lungs... but you have to be careful, because we'll have to operate close to the heart... and considering how much blood she has already lost, we don't have much time!"

After Limestone nodded her head, the two of them began their procedures, while Justin lifted the fallen door, and snapped it back on the hinges; giving the three their privacy.

While Justin, Maud, and Pinkie Pie stood there in the hallway, Pinkie cried out of fear for the safety of her sister. With no other ideas, Justin patted her on the shoulders and replied, "Don't worry, Pinkie. I've known Zula for a little over a month, now. Your sister's in good hands."

With a sniffle, Pinkie nodded her head and weakly smiled at him. "Y-you... you think so?"

Justin shook his head and replied, "No... I know so."

Then Pinkie caught him in a warm embrace and buried her head in his chest... which caught him by surprise. "Um... Pinkie?"

"I-I'm... I'm sorry. I believe you, but... I'm just... I'm still s-scared, Justin..." She stuttered, as her grip tightened.

While Justin felt uncomfortable with hugging her (considering the risks that it would make on her feelings about him), he also felt sympathy for her... and because of that, he felt he had no other choice but to wrap his arms around her, and return the hug. As he did, though, he felt her muscles tense up from his contact.

"Listen, Pinkie... as long as you and your sisters are under my care, I'll see to it that nothing bad happens to any of you. Alright?" He felt her nod as she continued to cry. Maud merely stood there and watched, but at the same time, her lips were starting to curve into a weak smile.

Thirty worry-filled minutes have passed since Zula and Limestone began operating on Marble. With each passing minute, Pinkie only began feeling more and more nervous. Maud, however, headed out to find the rest of the crew and let them know what's been going on.

"Are you feeling any better, Pinkie Pie?" Justin asked the mare who sat on the ground, leaned against the wall across the door that the operation was taking place in.

Pinkie looked at him and gave a weak smile and nod... but it was clear to Justin that she was only acting on confidence, rather than emotions. Because of that, Justin was about to question her again... until the sound of heavy claw and hoof steps could be heard from the distance.

When both Justin and Pinkie turned to see the source of the sound, they noticed it to be none other than Gilda and Maud, who both wore worried expressions on their faces.

"Gilda? Maud? What's wrong?!" Justin asked when they were within ears' reach.

"Justin! We can't find Swift, or any of the other guys!" Gilda replied while panting for breath. That statement caused Justin's eyes to widen.

"What?! Where could they have gone?!"

Before Justin could even receive an answer, however, the entire ship started to shake. "What the... now what's going on?!" Justin asked nobody in general, before dashing towards the exit, while the others (save for Zula, Limestone, and Marble) followed him.

As soon as the group made it outside, they gasped at the sight before them. On top of the Angler Whale's antenna stood a mysterious hooded figure that wore a purple cloak over its body. In the hood, all that could be seen was two red dots for eyes and a pitch black haze. Below the cloak it didn't even have legs, and from the ends of the long sleeves, it didn't appear to have any hands.

In a loud, yet whisper-like, masculine voice, it said, "Ah, at last we meet... human..."