Author's Notes:

As promised.

****

The Narrow Sea

Chrissy

For the record, I was never was one to back down in a fight.

Growing up, I had been groomed for leadership, taught extensively on all topics. Everything from aphrodisiacs to linguistics and as you might expect education was my mother’s primary focus when we interacted. My duties required that I be more than able to pull off any disguise, be it a horny wife, noble ruler, or even a skilled guard. And as the latter indicated my family regularly sparred with me, teaching me everything from hoof to hoof combat to weapon use. Overall I was a pretty good warrior…If I was being modest, although it was true to say noling in the hive could beat me. Mother was the exception. But she was winding down then, not having ‘time’ to spar with me, really her core was dying out.

No, I was not crying.

Anyway, my point was that I was no slouch in a fair fight. Fights where I wasn’t pregnant with a miniature black hole, pinned under my herd mate, or when I felt sicker than a Diamond dog at a chocolate shop.

Due to all that and more, like looking for my stallion, today was not a good day for a fair fight. Especially when our opponent might have well have been a virtual recluse with how little any being knew about him. In the whole time I had been alive, with my many scouts, and time traveling abroad I hadn’t heard of him. It felt like he came out of thin air.

Yes, we knew the basics of basics. He was a he, walked on two legs, was feared by Arch. Arch being a sadistic slaver that had captured my stallion, the assassin that was responsible for that occurring even feared this slaver, and the feared slaver was apparently terrified of our opponent.

We had just discovered more about our opponent, I refuse to call him the ‘king of pirates’ as he was no king to me.

Anyway, Kapera had failed to mention that this waste of flesh had an airship that dwarfed our borrowed ‘large’ fishing vessel. That it had at least twenty charge cannons, more than fifty regular cannons, and engines that could easily overtake a sailing ship if they turned on.

I can say all that because we are currently trying to outrun him, the key word was trying.

He was playing with us, every being knew it, and some were taking this news better than others.

“PLEASE KILL ME NOW!” The assassin screamed from her position on the mast, looking like she really did want to die. Her eyes were dilated with terror as she gazed at the languidly following airship. I didn’t blame her, if he caught us she was a bargaining chip or a distraction to help us escape, that is assuming he hadn’t heard of my bounty already…

The hum of the engines continued.

Arrogant bastard of a pirate, treating this like a game, I mean he could overtake us at any time he wanted and…I hate pricks like that.

“Shut up! We don’t have time to kill you.” Kapera, our now fearful helms-Mongofu turned back to the unofficial navigator. “Dinny, do we have any littorals coming up?”

Checking the map, the Minotaur grimaced and shook her head, “Not for-,” she checked her compass and map, “-another ten miles.”

“Bays?! Any ports,” she steered us sharply around a sharp rock jutting up from the increasingly rough waters, not hearing my stomach curse her. The slap of the waves against the wall of rock were loud in my ears, the sea bird’s caws and squawks long gone, having sensed that something bad was coming long ago. We were getting closer and closer to the cliff side as we went, looking for an escape route, any way away from this crazy being.

Another head shake came from Dinari, causing her older brother to gulp and step closer to her till they were touching head to shoulder.

“Oy! Siren, what’s your excuse? Can’t you make them act stupid or something?!” Kapera turned her attention to Lyric, who had been huddled on my back, trying to cover up her fear.

That started up the previously dazed lunar spy, “SIREN?!” The poor zebra he was by winced, receiving an earful. He looked at my herd mate with the exact look that made her not want to use her own power, fear.

It was almost as bad as the barely contained squeals he was making, a fearsome royal guard he was, yup, fear inspiring filly squeals.

“SHUT UP!” I screamed at him, clutching my aching head in my hooves. By some grace of Faust he did. We did not need this, not now. Just when we had been getting through to him that we were trying to save our world…But before I had time to explain why I had invaded his city, and of course explain Lyric’s story, a bucking pirate had to show up. Oh, not just any pirate, the head honcho pirate himself.

Lyric snorted at him, gathering another water ball, and hitting him in the muzzle again. “Racist.”

There was a long pause as Kapera kept her gaze on my herd mate, eyes narrowed as she steered, and lips drawn in a grim line. My herd mate just nuzzled into my mane, bitter tasting fear growing, and wet drops started rolling down my neck.

Kapera broke it, seeing as Lyric wasn’t breaking it. “Look,” pausing she took on a softer tone, “Lyric we are going to all die a bloody death or a quick death by that-,” pointing a shaking paw at the clearly superior airship following us, “-bastard if we don’t do something. And I am trying to respect your wishes here. Heck, I understand why you refrain from using it. Looking at what they did to your family for using it. BUT, I don’t want to die and Ari would be heartbroken if you died. He would want you to fight for…” Trailing off, her gaze traveled to the spy.

He didn’t need to know why, at least not when we weren’t even sure if he was going to kill us in our sleep, not to mention he would most certainly tell Luna anything we said in front of him.

Bat colt was catching on though, “You are a siren hybrid?!” His eyes were bugging out as the mare hanging beside him gave a look that said ‘are you stupid’. I didn’t blame her for thinking that. He thought that Ari was a changeling king and he lived in a sheltered country. That last part said it all really, slavery didn’t exist in their minds, super storms would be laughed at, and starvation was no longer a reality.

Siren hybrids weren’t real either.

“Yes,” came a muffled reply from my mane, getting clearer as she removed her muzzle, nervous energy popped on my tongue. Kapera’s ears perked up from the bow. “Yes, I can try to stop them…But if they are strong like my dad or Ari are then they could easily resist the magic.” Leaning over my neck, she gave my cheek a kiss. “I need to stand for this.”

This caused a sigh of relief from every being, except for the Thestral; he looked at her with fear.

“Thank you…Come to me when they are here and I can make some custom rings, for free.” Kapera looked at our stomachs pointedly, “Anything you want.” A relieved chuckle escaped her lips then, her shoulders relaxing slightly as she steered us.

Lifting her legs awkwardly, Lyric extracted herself from between my wing bases, my single one popping up and buzzing till it was a blur. I was a little nervous; considering that if this failed our situation would only get worse.

My buzzing slowed as I felt the drain of the foal, she continued to make her way to the stern, but I wasn’t going to call her back, no matter how much the faint ache my muscles were getting worried me.

Lyric was around one hundred fifty feet from the low flying air vessel, as close as she could be without wings. A series of clicks sounded as she arrived at the back of the boat, a slight charge filled the air, and the rolling of dozens of balls reached my sensitive ears.

Buck, if this failed…

Gennady suddenly went past me, running up the stairs to stand by Lyric. I turned my head and raised my eyebrows at him as he gave her a warm smile. This wasn’t unwanted, just unexpected…He hadn’t seen us in awhile but was actually very genuine in helping us, whatever Ari had told him must have really won him over.

“Stay behind me Gennady…” She trailed off, squaring her shoulders as we took another sharp turn, rocks popping up left and right, threatening to rend our hull open. “If…If this doesn’t work, don’t grab for me…Okay?” He looked dumbfounded, like she told him to kick a puppy. “Grab Chrissy and think of all the love you hold for your family and friends.” Another shifting of hooves, glancing at them like they could help her, and evidently they told her no more than they told me.

Lyric would…

He finally gave a slow nod, gulping as he glanced back at his sister.

Although I was feeling weaker, I kept my eyes fixed on Lyric as she opened her muzzle wide, taking in a big breath of the warm sea air. This was her element. Golden draconic eyes glittered in the sun, a slightly reddish hue enveloping them as she let out the first note, a middle c if I recalled my music lessons correctly. It flowed long and dark, full of her sorrow. It was entrancing in the skill she performed, magic filling the air with a pressure as it looked for susceptible hosts, and even Gennady had to slap himself to stay focused. I could see why her cutie mark was musical notes, she was better than any changeling I had ever heard.

The pirate’s agreed.

Engines sputtered on the airship, half of them appearing to be shutting down, the dark clouds disappearing with the wind. Charge cannons flickered off, their glow dying. As that happened, some female voices sounded from the ship, confused. Then a dull roar came from the ship. In less time than Ari took to eat, most of the male crew was at the bow, leaning over the railing with enchanted expressions, some crying.

It was working…Wait a second.

Lyric started swishing her tail, ears splaying, and I immediately saw why. The ship was still moving.

In fact, as her tone turned richer, almost in the range of a contralto, the remaining two engines turned faster. More plumes of dark clouds turning one hundred and fifty feet turned to one hundred in less than ten seconds, but the larger vessel still gained speed.

Siren’s songs enchant don’t they?!

The one used in the street apparently wasn’t ‘true siren’ magic, it was Lyric’s modified variety of their songs, concentrated in mind magic and specified for the target the caster had in mind. Apparently it was a head ache to do, requiring a lot of focus and manipulation for Lyric to maintain. Which would be impossible for her against the crew of a ship this size, so we were stuck with the wide spread enchantment that was native to sirens.

All that meant was that they wanted us even more, although for a different reason than before, wasn’t that just perfect.

Hold on…That might just be perfect.

Kapera took us around the corner, the rough rock close to our rat lines as we took it sharply. I looked from the cliff to the Mongofu, then back at the sharp points of rock.

Fifty feet now, the pirates were clamoring at the railing as they drew ever nearer to our stern, the siren.

“Keep us near the cliff! Weave between rocks, anything sharp Kapera!” I yelled at her, noticing the confused looks on the prisoner’s muzzles, “You want to live?!” They looked to me, pausing for a second, and then franticly nodded like terrified foals.

The look of confusion was on her face disappeared just as Lyric switched to a higher note, lilting between that and a high c, beckoning them. A splash sounded and some being whispered ‘wow’ as pirates began to throw themselves over the railing, trying to jump the closing gap, turning the crowd of fifty to forty in minutes.

Forty feet of water left and a jagged shore line ahead.

Metal crunched, wood creaked ominously as they took the corner after us, it was working- Then the long ship suddenly pulled away from the rock as its crew heard the sound. Some were looking around at their crewmates in confusion. My heart plummeted at that. Yes, there was still a good percentage of the crew under her spell, but it might not last long if the other pirate’s anger was any indicator.

‘They still remember what they did afterwards.’

And she was right about that, the awakened crew was shaking the enchanted members, and several female crew members were coming onto the deck looking homicidal.

Buck.

My nausea was growing too. My cushion shifted, left, right, and then left once again. Kapera was following my orders to a ‘T’ and I hated it. A foal could knock me out at this point, okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but it certainly felt like that.

“Nitakuua!” The zebra spat at the lunar guard as he swung away again, her face scrunched up and ears pinned. She was going to give him a world of pain.

“OWW” He groaned out, looking like he already was on his way there.

The pirates disappeared for a second as we took the next corner, “Omph!” My breath was knocked out of me as the ship tilted and I was thrown into the railing.

Lyric’s song faltered as she lost her grip as well, sliding with Gennady towards the rails.

Our fate was sealed, that second of quiet combined with the crew clamoring to snap the enchanted back to reality was our undoing. They came around the corner, traveling smartly a safe distance from the rock face now, all looking appropriately angry and confused.

All our little stunt did was dent the metal frame of their balloon and scratch up their hull a little, nothing to slow them down.

Righting the ship, Kapera called to Lyric. “Do it again! Maybe-”

I never heard what she said; a loud crackle forced my ears back and sent Gennady scrambling back from his position by the railing. A gaping hole through the deck where he and my herd mate had been seconds ago. Splashes echoed as wood splinters fell to the dark water below.

She was gone.

My heart skipped a beat, pounding erratically for a second in my aching head as I gazed at the empty spot. I felt sick and it wasn’t from the foal this time. Why…How will I explain this to Ari? That is…If we ever make it to him, which was looking less and less likely, especially with, with her gone. I was al-.

Clunks brought me back to the scene before me.

Flashes of silver as grappling hooks were flung across the gap and were secured to our railings, being pulled taunt.Gennady looked at us in fear as he ran back to the mast, while I blinked, stupefied at what was happening. Kapera cursed in Zebrican, almost louder than the Zebra. She was sobbing and begging for death in Zebrican, which was all I could figure out from her blubbering. All the while, the spy looked like death warmed over, completely overwhelmed, the poor ignorant equestrian…

One thing appeared clear to me, our deaths were inevitable. That thought brought on the fatigue of knowing the end was coming, it washed over me, causing me to slump and rest my muzzle on my hooves.

All the fighting and traveling for this end, before we even change the world?

The hooks tugged our boat off course, pulling us away from the cliff, and rocking the deck. Jagged outcroppings of rocks tore our hull open, creating new wounds. It slowed us down, the wind pulling franticly at our sails as they began letting in the tempestuous water inside. Our escape was halted, rocks holding us captive, and most certainly ensuring our deaths.

My eyes felt too heavy, too wet, and I wanted to scream.

Ari was out there somewhere and I would never find him now, he might die, unable to remove the magic inhibitor…Like killing my herd mate, who was also my new friend and only source of food wasn’t enough for them to do!

And according to some pirates it wasn’t enough.

Beams of white energy sailed over my head, filling the air with the smell of burnt ozone, and a splintering of wood. Everything moved in slow motion to my eyes for a second. Kapera jumping to the right and scampering away on all fours, dodging the falling ropes and beams with her tail tucked in. Dinari jumping to the left, dodging some falling beams, before she finally succumbed, becoming tangled in the many ropes. The noise of it all was nearly deafening. Squeals of fear and panic coming from the falling prisoners as the mast took them down with it.

A heavy thump rocked the deck, vibrating my teeth for a second as the sails to catch a breeze from their new position.

Suddenly, I was snapped up. Emotions swirled around, fear, surprise, and love mixing in a strange cocktail in my stomach. The cushion I had been on exploded in a puff of pastel colored feathers and fabric as cannon balls began raining down.

Gennady’s run was short, stopping at the mast’s base, and coincidently, the unharmed prisoners, they were still hogtied and terrified. Once there he began trying to untangle his sister, Kapera popping up seconds later to help him. They worked fast, pulling, tugging, and even biting through the ropes.

A thump of wood on wood brought caught my attention. What the-

“YAH,” many boisterous voices shouted, the excitement coming from them was almost palatable, but the fear from the bull holding me was palatable, coating my stomach in another vile emotion.

“Finally some action,” a couple of males giggled, looking at the zebra mare and me with eager expressions. Many more chuckled at what they had planned in their minds.

I like to think it was killing themselves, I know it would make me happy, very happy.

Some just yelled battle cries as they boarded us, lining the railings with cutlasses drawn. They continued taunting us, but stayed far away from us, not even swiping at us. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they knew we were trapped, that our options were limited now. But it worried me. I knew couldn’t fight without losing the foal…That is, if I haven’t lost it already. A shudder passed through me at the thought, adding to my nausea. Lyric was…dead, Gennady wasn’t trained in wielding anything bigger than a pickaxe as far as I knew, and Dinari was trapped. Kapera had her teeth and claws, but compared to the pirates that had swords and easily outnumbered us, that brought little hope.

In fact, it just got worse.

More and more pirates boarded till we had close to fifty on the deck, all the while adding more planks, and watching us with their hungry eyes. Although, it wasn’t just the hunger for killing, there were many different types of hunger present. Some screamed lust to me, others had the expected barely reigned in bloodlust, but the female crew members promised revenge with their eyes. One Gryphon in particular was giving me the evil eye while running her tongue along her blade, looking much more eager than even her lustful crewmates.

Just what I needed, one hen that really would push for the ‘long tortuous death’ option when-

The thunder of paws and fins suddenly halted, more planks were laid down forming a solid looking bridge. Then a path was cleared, the workers scrambling back to the railing as a hush fell upon the pirates. Gennady and Kapera stopped and looked back from their work as we gazed at the ugliest thing I had ever seen in my life.

Walking across the planks was a creature I had never seen before, never even heard of, and I understood why. If I was whatever it was I would be too embarrassed to leave my room, let alone the ship, and judging by some of the looks on the pirate’s faces they thought so too.

Faust must hate him, I mean look at him!

He walked bowlegged on two very hairy legs, not enough to be considered fur, and had grotesque reversed knees. It was almost like a vildkatt’s legs but more extreme, and certainly not visually pleasing. His paws were just as ugly, bearing five digits instead of four, one looking like a dew claw but wrong. It was too long, and too far to the side and back. The paws also had almost no hair. Really, I wanted to say fur but I couldn’t, his covering of follicles was soo thin I could see many spots where grayish blue skin showed, more than I would like to see. The worst part from my perspective was right in front of me, especially with so little hair…He was also not wearing any clothing. A thing most respectable bipedal beings avoided, as their genitals were often in line with their quadruped friend’s faces.

Apparently he was above such practices.

His nakedness allowed me to see the clearly defined muscles on his body, tense in the sunlight, highlighting the bulging biceps that made Gennady’s muscles look small. But despite the muscular endowment he had I still believe Faust must have hated him when he made the pirate’s face. The nose was all scrunched up and tiny, nostrils set wide apart, but with no muzzle to speak of, useless really. Then the god of creation had slapped two blue eyes on there, except they were too tiny to function, like little buttons. Unlike the over sized ears of Vildkatts or the nonexistent ears of Samaki, his ears were odd, looking once again too small for his face. Sticking out like little immovable ovals, not twitching to track the subtle shifting of his crew, it was unnerving. Like his whole body was written wrong, to a nonsensical pattern that would have made the god of chaos nod in approval. Take that fact that his hair was most concentrated around his crown, chin and mouth. It made no sense; wouldn’t the mouth hair attract crumbs and other food wastes?

“Well, well, well. I won the jackpot-,” no being spoke as he paused, looking at his crew with narrowing eyes, “- and no lucky dice needed this time!” This time a roar of laughs came from them. He mock bowed from his position at the end of the planks, just a hop from our deck.

The gryphon hen was trying to get his attention, looking at me then him, very obviously. The other crew members quieted and sighed.

Her captain turned to her, “Yeesssss Maja? Something on your mind?” His gruff voice spoke softer than before, quieting the sighs as they all watched the interaction. We did as well, not knowing what else to do; we had no hope of winning.

“MayIkillthechangeling?” Maja rushed out, her voice rivaling the pink menace in speed, the eagerness was one of dark intentions, though, although parties didn’t seem her style. The sword was twitching in her grip.

“NO!” His voice suddenly turned dark, a toothy snarl revealing a mix of sharp canines and dull incisors. “That-,” his hairy paw pointed to me, “-is our paycheck! One million bits ALIVE! Worth more than any other loot on this ship,” the meaty paw gestured to the rest of my companions as he said loot.

Her head lowered, shoulders slumping in disappointment, the poor hen doesn’t get to kill a changeling…My sympathies were nonexistent.

“Can I…Torture it then?” She looked up hopefully, with the expression some being might use for more cake.

The captain thought it over…For all of one second. “Of course my little blade! Maim away, just leave her intact and alive.” The rest of the crew chuckled at her enthusiasm, like you have guessed I was less than impressed, in my state any torture would…My heart sank then.

“Omph!”

Chuckles and laughs died down as he literally had his feet taken out from under him, landing face first on our deck. A deathly hush fell over the every being, I tasted fear.

A wave had knocked the boards out.

The wave that had sprung up and grabbed the boarding planks paused unnaturally, holding the wood in its watery clutch as it stayed raised, and around the deck eyes grew wide.

I felt hope enter my chest, this was magic, elemental water magic, and only…

“Lyric?!” I whispered into the tense air, my heart racing as I recognized her wave trick from the swamp. The raised wave came crashing down on the pirates, soaking them, and sending some sprawling.

A dark chuckle rose from the prone creature on the deck, it was full of mirth, and his crew began to give him space. Several crew members even looked over the railing in fear, like that rocky water was more inviting. One vildkatt was too slow to back away; the ‘poor’ tom was grabbed by the ankle and dragged down.

There was no protesting.

We stood paralyzed as in less than ten seconds the tom’s neck was snapped, flopping slightly under the meaty paw of his captain. Shaking with emotion the captain stood, grabbing the sword from the body before tossing his former crew member overboard like he weighed little more than a pillow.

But his anger was still there after that, digits curling in to make fists, breathing turning ragged, and his eyes had a wild look to them. He looked like a vision from nightmare night, looking for something to eat. Sharp canines ground together as he looked around the deck for the culprit.

Our eyes locked.

As his blue eyes mine I wanted to run from this fight, never before feeling the empty depths like those eyes, it was…Madness…I couldn’t move, too weak to struggle out of the bull’s grip, and even if I could…I was too weak to run.

I could only do one thing from my position.

“Hello and you are?” Feigning ignorance, I had to get him talking, make time for Lyric to think of a way free us.

Every being had their eyes on me, many emotions ran through the crowd, but most looked to be wondering if I had gone mad. I hadn’t, at least not the type they thought.

“HUHUHUHUHUH!” He laughed, slapping his knee with his free hand, and leaning against the sword. A complete change from his angry self that was here only seconds ago. Wiping imaginary tears from the corners of his eyes he looked at me, serious now. “Now, that is a stupid question if I ever heard one. Were you so hive bound that you never heard of me?!” I couldn’t reply, it was accurate, “WELL?!”

With that he closed the gap jumping down from the stern, flipping in midair before landing in front of Gennady, blocking Dinari’s view. The bull tried to push me behind him, closer to our prisoners. The key word, again, was tried.

The captain had me by the throat while Gennady had me around the abdomen. I was caught in a tug of war and didn’t know who was winning, couldn’t bother to care then, it was just more pain and nausea inducing emotions.

“Obviously idiocy runs in your group, now let go of my paycheck you bucking cow!” And he did let go of me.

“AAAHHHHH!”

Not of his own choice though, Gennady lost his arm.

My back throbbed as I was remembered losing my own appendage, I don’t think the arm was any less sensitive.

It thumped as it hit the deck, red spraying from the stump as we looked on in shock. His screams and pants as he tried to clutch it, and failing to do so without causing more pain. Kapera jumped, removing her apron to-

My view changed, world blurring for a second as I was roughly handled. That damn hen was just staring at me, eyes distant. A tall Minotaur at the back looked away while a vildkatt beside him shrugged, yawning before leaning on the bull.

Holding me by my neck, their captain raised me up high to show his crew. “This is our paycheck-,” Cheers blasted my ears as I dangled there, “-so tell it who it’s paying!”

“THE KING OF PIRATES!”

Snorting came from behind me, thrashing and snips muffled under the cheers.

“Boss!”

“MASTER OF THE SEA!”

“Falmer! BOSS!” The same voice that called out before yelled out above the din causing a silence to fall, but that could have been my hearing going as his strong grip turned to the point of strangulation.

Were there always stars in the daytime?

“Boss! Boss! Boss,” A brown and tan hypogryph came flying over the gap, franticly waving some glowing headset in his paws…He never made it across, Lyric’s wave rose up and grabbed him, pulling the struggling pirate down. She was trying, but there was only so much she could do with us on board.

“What no-.”

He, ‘Falmer’, the bastard never finished his question. We both were sent sprawling, a roar reaching my ears as I rolled to a stop. After a dazed second I looked up to Kapera dragging me away from the part of the deck where an enraged eight foot tall heifer was wrestling with a muscle bound seven foot tall thing.

The match went back and forth for several minutes. As we watched bids were being yelled out between the pirate crew…All on how long it would take their captain to wipe the deck with her. This was just another damn game to them! Gennady looked above the battle at something on the stern that I’m sure only his pain addled brain could see, and all the while the apron was slowly growing darker.

All this seemed pointless, we were just their entertainment.

“GRUUUHHHH” She grunted as he had her pinned. A thump and grunt came from him next as she got her arm around his neck and him pinned. Slapping the deck, he looked about out of it, eyes dropping. Her grip loosened reflectively, a small satisfied grin growing on her muzzle.

Yes! We-

Like with his ship, he had played with her, as soon as she relaxed he threw his head back. Her surprised scream of pain was overshadowed by the jeers and cheering of his crew as he flipped her, now under him the smith struggled with a taste of her own medicine.

Her brother wasn’t even watching her, shock most likely setting in, the stern capturing his focus.

After a couple minutes Falmer stood, dusting off his hair while showing the crew his teeth, cheers continued.

More minutes passed and he finally put up a paw, they stopped instantaneously thankfully, my migraine was threatening many evil things if they hadn’t. “Enough! These games are costing us too much time, who wants fresh meat?” Cheers, “I thought so, let’s get these-.”

Lyric could hear him; water rose from the Narrow Sea and grabbed a group of his crew members close to the edge.

Twenty to be exact, that mare is full of surprises.

“Well…Buck, we are going to have to fix that.” He nodded to the sea and several Samaki looked at each other, seeming to get an idea, chattering in their language that was impossible for land beings to replicate, leaving me in the dark. But it didn’t take long for my muzzle to drop as did Kapera’s as she noticed their actions.

Those bucking walking fish all jumped over the railings, gills flashing along with their confident smirks. Fifteen Samaki were too much for Lyric, even with her affinity to the water.

No Samaki has ever drowned.

A gasp sounded from the side of the hull, by the water, she must be- Her squeal broke my heart. I could barely concentrate, my heart was going a mile a minute, and, and another bucking pirate ship just came around the corner.

The prisoners were looking at me with wide eyes now, confused at my lack of action. They did not understand why I was immobile. They didn’t feel my body’s aches, all the heart ache and panic at being useless. I was a queen! Once anyway, but now I reduced to this.

My herd, new family, it was all falling apart.

Our new opponent was coming at our beached, sinking vessel at full speed.

“And there is…” He trailed off as the ship grew closer, two hundred feet away and Falmer’s mouthed turned down. “What is HE doing here? I sent him after Arch…” He looked around for a second. “WHERE IS BRONZE GYLPH?” He yelled, forcing my ears back and another axe at my brain.

Maja, the gryphon hen, looked at the deck, “The siren got him, and he had the communicator with him.”

“Buck!” He paused before turning to his ship that was hovering patiently slightly above the crashing waves. “QUICKFIT LET THE BITCH KNOW HOW I FEEL!” A clatter was heard on his deck as he muttered, “That bottle licker is going the wrong way…”

A red unicorn came bumbling out to the airship’s deck, rushing to a charge cannon, once there he put a hoof on both jewels that were on the cannons stand.

Crackling sounded in the air.

Then white energy formed a beam, firing off a narrow beam of magic at the approaching ship’s cabin. It was reflecting. My heart raced as I saw a familiar shield pop up, deflecting the beam into the sky. Jaws dropped and the captain scratched his head, confused at the shield.

My ears perked up, finding new energy.

Ari called it a ‘medieval’ shield when I had asked him, his version of our magic shield.

Before I could celebrate Ari’s achievement in stealing a pirate ship a wet smack brought my attention back to the deck. Thin rivulets of watery blood ran along the deck, leaving the beaten and unconscious form of my herd mate. Lyric was missing a couple of scales around her muzzle, her tail looked crooked, and her eyes were closed. Breathing slightly erratically, she was still alive, but definitely not in any way capable of helping.

Ari was here…I think so; it was an earth ‘medieval’ styled shield I saw. Although it was gone, maybe I was too hopeful? What was the chance that another unicorn slaver knew that style of shield?

“Buck, that isn’t part of his ship!”

I just grinned and winked at my companions, they didn’t understand at first, then Kapera mouthed ‘Ari’. I nodded, a sense of peace settling over me as I turned back to-

More ships were coming in behind Ari’s ship; nine pirate ships were chasing him.

No, wait, they all looked a little roughed up. Actually, at one hundred feet I could clearly see that Ari’s was missing a cabin, all were missing one of their cabins, and some had giant holes in their sails…

These ships were all his?!

At fifty feet now the captain took notice of the ship’s shape too, “That isn’t the drunkard bitch, FFIIIIRRRREE!” Another beam came from the airship, this time at one of the other ships. We could clearly see the golden glow as the new captain of the pirate ship walked up the stairs to his ship’s bow; a medieval shield appeared in front of the targeted ship.

The beam was useless.

Falmer’s rage faded to the background as I took in my long lost stallion.

Seven days had passed now and we both looked worse for wear. Ari was looking a lot like…I snorted and folded my ears slightly. Was that a zebra on his back and coming up beside him? No, that makes sense. The zebras were the usual victims, he probably has met plenty of zebras, and of course they were helping him.

Right, anyway, after a week my stallion looked a lot like a zebra. He was wrapped in so many bandages that his black fur was just peeking through; from flank to wither he was bandaged. Even one of his wings was splinted and tied to his body. His muzzle was scraped up, and his eyes…They locked onto mine as his ship got within thirty feet.

So much passed through that look, he was happy, brow rising, and then scrunching as his face contorted in confusion, before finally settling into a tense expression with his nostrils flaring. I managed a weak smile as pain came from my muscles.

Falmer was as good as dead, those eyes held that almost feral look in them that I hadn’t seen in quite a while.

Last time…he stomped the dogs to death.

His assassin brought me back, looking at the ships with fear, “Can I ask you for a quick death?” Taking a double take, my eyes went between her and my stallion’s fleet. I hadn’t been thinking of her fate much, Ari had been on my mind, and really, her questioning had been interrupted by Moonbutt’s spy.

But we still didn’t have time for this.

“You can ask, but it is still Ari’s decision in the end.” I looked at her, then the spy. “Same for you Echo, Ari is the one you want to beg for forgiveness…Changeling king? Really? That princess must be losing it.”

“Ari?” The captain said, all the pirate’s looking at us like they had won another jackpot. Kapera was punched back in an instant and I was hoisted up by my neck again, Gennady reached for me, but was easily kicked away. “You know this pony, eh?” I kept silent as he gazed at me. “Just as I thought, you know him-,” he grinned wider as my ear twitched from the breeze, “-no, you don’t just know him…A mare, a stallion; he is your stallion I’m willing to bet. No stallion gets this worked up from any mare getting roughed up.” And glancing over I had to admit he was right, Ari had his ears pinned, neck arched, and his short tail was whipping back and forth.

If the ponies hadn’t been pressing into him and whispering, a fact which I was trying to ignore, then he would have crossed the gap and stomped Falmer to death already.

With the gap just twenty feet now, Ari snorted and bent down to whisper something to the zebra beside him. She wore almost a complete replica of the headset that the hippogriff had…Like magic the ships all changed course, breaking away from their previous formation to travel in a line, eventually forming a circle around us, the cliff behind us completing the cage.

“READY,” Ari called in his royal Canterlot voice while his eyes narrowed at the disgusting creature behind holding me prisoner. “AIM,” the small round of thunder coming from the nine ships ended as he said that, clicks sound from them now.

Falmer heard this too of course.

“Grab the loot and get back on the ship!” And with that command they, my…Friends, were swarmed by the remaining pirates, maybe thirty, but too much for us still.

Nausea returning, I closed my eyes as my world moved rapidly and noise hammered my head. A glimpse of the sea passed, a solid thump sounding as we stopped moving. Squeals still sounded behind me as our prisoners became their prisoners, I didn’t hear Kapera as more thumps sounded. Opening my eyes I saw why, she had her muzzle locked around a vildkatt’s arm as they tried to carry her across the newly provided planks. Lyric was being dragged like a heavy sack, the Samaki letting the rails hit her as they ran over. I would have snorted at their treatment of her had I the energy, I was so tired.

Dinari was being hefted over by the glassy eyed Minotaur that couldn’t watch when she was choked, or when Gennady lost an arm. Funny how they care once it’s their species, I was willing he didn’t feel any remorse for all the zebras he has helped ship.

Gennady followed the Minotaur quietly, keeping his head turned towards Ari.

“HOLD.”

Shaking me until a strangled squeak escaped by my lips, Falmer looked at my stallion, “Uh, uh , uh, my troublesome unicorn-.”

Kapera was thrown to the deck and pinned, “ALICORN!” Her angry voice yelled at her long time enemy. “Or to you, your death-,” a kick from the bleeding Vildkatt shut her up, gasps for air coming from her.

Ari’s horn glowed and a faint ethereal bridge started appearing, one plank flickering at a time, till it connected to the airship’s railing. My stallion ignored the beast, instead turning to the zebra beside him. “Get more of your paste ready.” She just looked at me then him.

“You better be explaining this.”

He gave her a sad smile, “Of course I will be.” Ari then turned to the other mare, a brown earth pony. “Can you go help her?” Indicating to the way the zebra went, to which the mare nodded slowly, looking sideways at me with splaying ears. “Good, then see you soon.”

A second passed and we all blinked as he began to take long strides across his bridge.

“WAIT, WHAT ABOUT-.” The mare started to ask, only to be interrupted by the creature, he was grinding his teeth, and his paw tightened around me.

“Really, does this thing mean nothing to you?” He shook me slightly, making my neck chitin ache, among other things. Ari’s answer was a snort as he kept walking. “I mean, you look like something out of the desert, half wrapped, and about to be dead.”

Touching down on the deck, my stallion ignored him, taking in the status of everyone. Before he blinked, as did every other being, if any had thought they were imagining they now knew they weren’t. He had an injured zebra mare on his back.

Ari’s narrowed gaze finally settling on Falmer.

His eyes widened, cocking his head to the left, then right. What was so confusing? The pirate was ugly as manure was stinky. I was hanging by my neck here!

“Are you a ‘Planet of the Apes’ reject? I mean I can tell you are an ape…But-,” He pointed a chipped hoof at Falmer’s feet, “-your feet are still so primitive.” A ‘aha’ look came, “Are you a Neanderthal?”

“RRRREEEAAALLLYYYY?! EVERY DAMNED TIME!” He paused to breath and let the ringing leave my ears, “I’m an Mbzuzi! Muu-bu-zoo-ze, got that you pathetic whorse?!”

The insult passed over Ari completely, but the mare on his back pinned her ears at the ‘Mbzuzi’.

“Rrrriiiggghhhtt…A Mbzuzi, you know ‘ape’ is shorter right? Or monkey, I mean I already know-.” Ari stopped suddenly, cocking his head. “No, maybe I don’t. Anyway, I’m sure you know why I’m here ape.”

Maja looked ready to kill him, clicking her beak as her wings ruffled. “He has a name you disrespectful colt,” He turned to look at her, to which she ruffled her chest feathers, puffing up. “That’s right, you are in the presence of the king of pirates, ruler of the seas, and-.”

“Look, I don’t know how much he fucks you for you to kiss his ass this much, and I don’t care. You obviously idol him, that’s sick in my opinion, but good for you to have happiness…I guess.” Falmer stuck his tongue out at that. “I hate to ruin your thing but he has to die, and you too if you side with him. The Narrow Sea is going to be slaver free,” He turned to Falmer, “Pirate free.”

Laughter came from the crew, paws, hooves, and fins slapped the deck as the idea of thirty one pirates losing to him went over as well as expected.

“Really, Mr. Alicorn? What are you going to do? Hit me with the sun? Send me to the moon? Trap me in eternal night till I cry uncle?” He brought me to the forefront then. “Face it colt, you ain’t no Sunbutt or Moonbutt, your mane doesn’t even float. In fact, I had never even heard of you till Arch told me he found you! You-.”

“Don’t exist,” Ari finished for him, looking serious again. With a snort he continued, “I get that everywhere I go, it is kind of annoying. But like I said-,” his horn glowed, “-you are going to diieee. AH!”

Ari’s shot went off course as the ship shook, the spell hitting the cliff and sending rocks into the water. But no shots had been fired at us…Why did we lurch like that?

We all waited for a second, silence.

They continued, Falmer looking cheeky. “You are bluffing, no good stallion would hit their mare and that’s exactly what you appear to be. I mean those pathetic excuses for bits convinced you to help them, after many years decades of being little sheep, following the flock, if they deserved to live they would have fought back.”

“WE DID YOU BASTERD!” Kapera yelled, “Omph.”

“As I was saying, the many ships you stole are useless to you when you can’t fire a single shot! You are smarter than Sunbutt I will give you that…But you ain’t no genius, just a hormone driven upstart. Eh, colt? How right am I?”

My stomach flipped as I was shaken again, until a snort sounded, letting the world slow down.

“You will unhand my mare.”

What was a hand?

The mbzuzi was enjoying this, “And why would I throw away one million bitsaaAAAAHHHHH!” I was dropped, again, red raining down my neck. Blinking I realized it wasn’t mine. A force pulled me across the deck and I blinked, watching as the blubbering form of Falmer grew further away, yellow knife dissipating beside the stump where Falmer’s hand had been.

Ari was looking down at me, a smile on his muzzle, tired eyes crinkling, “Hey Chrissy.”

I didn’t know what to say, my brain could finally think again with that awful screaming gone, and I was soo happy to-

Snapping to attention, Ari ducked as a punch came flying at him. With the momentum Falmer brought his face, teeth really, at my stallion’s neck. Squealing at the contact, he reared up, taking the mare and Falmer with him. That squeal turned into a roar, as the mare’s grip let go, freeing the males to duke it out, magic was long forgotten in Ari’s mind.

Feral eyes screamed unmistakable hatred for each other.

Locked in battle they pushed against each other, Falmer with his good arm pushing on Ari’s wither while his maw got soaked in Alicorn blood, and Ari with his hooves stomping at the muscled shoulders.

Suddenly fear coated my tongue, a warm hoof on my flank, the injured mare.

We locked eyes, her eyes uncertain, fearful, and…Curious? I didn’t know what to say to do, in her state she wasn’t any threat, and I wasn’t any threat. Our ears both splayed as the stare off continued, sadness flowed in, then new stronger fear flowed in. My stomach started shouting obscenities at the influx of bitter emotions.

The deck thudded as they continued to battle, the crowd silent this time.

“Either, think of something happy and loving or get your hoof off my flank.” I pinned my ears at her to make the message clear. Just because I knew I couldn’t move to back it up didn’t mean she knew that.

Her hoof shook, confusion muting the flavors. “What?”

“Fear tastes horrible.” She jumped further onto me, dodging the dancing hooves and ‘hands’, whatever those were. With a snort I looked back at her. “I’m an emotionvore.”

She looked from her body that was half on my flank, then Ari, then to me, cocking her head, and sweet love flowed in. “Like that?”

“Exactly like that.”

Muzzle opening like she wanted to say more, it froze, fear becoming dominate again. I just sighed; she must have realized just what she was on: a changeling. Changelings never really went to Zebrica, too long to travel back and forth. But we were still spoken of there, ‘the fanged dark flyers’, ‘night bugs’ or something equally as complimentary. Changelings got the short stick everywhere.

Not as short as Falmer must be feeling.

Ari was towering over the mbzuzi now. They had broken apart some time and had just come back to try and break each other, so much for the restraint he had showed before…Not I didn’t find his performance captivating, but Lyric was unconscious, Gennady was still bleeding, and Dinari was also unconscious. This would have been quicker if Ari had used magic.

Reared up, he was now at least two feet taller than Falmer. But that also left his chest wide open, which the pirate was more than happy to use to his advantage. Hairy arms went out, one trailing blood, with the odd squirt squelching out, the other had their clawless digits outstretched. Well used hooves came down-

The airship lurched, sending Falmer flailing backwards from Ari, and hooves followed him.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAA!” Cracks sounded out from the ‘hands’ under Ari’s hooves. Oops, isn’t that just too bad?

More cracks sounded, causing every being to turn their head to our wrecked ship, there a large green scaled head poking out of the now nonexistent deck. The fins rippled along from its neck to head, long snout scrunching up as nostrils flared.

This was another one of the reasons that changelings never crossed the sea, that no being had ever come back from the Endless sea, sea serpents were bigger than most dragons and just as vicious.

“Fuck.”

I looked over to Ari, his eyes dilating before they franticly went around the deck. Locking on the Minotaur that still held Dinari, his horn glowed, and a pop sounded from beside the Minotaur. Gennady was gone.

Falmer turned his head to the sound of the pop, “Grab the loot-AHHHH,” the serpent narrowed its eyes, focusing on the noise. “START THE ENGINES NOW! FIRE THE CANNONS!” He continued to call orders unnecessarily, his crew was already running to the cannons and the control panels.

Except none of them were bothering to secure us, not that I blame them, living was always better in my book.

Another three pops sounded, Kapera and the prisoners were gone. But the Minotaur was just standing there, his black horns lowering slightly as they gazed at each other.

Thumps reached my ears, followed by panicked squeals from Ari’s vessel. The zebra with the headset was back.

“ARI HURRY IT UP, WE HAVE A WHOLE-,” the mare’s yell was cut off as the ship turned sideways, righting itself just barely, a purple fin breached the water heading for the airship.

With that the green head broke through the hull, wood flying as it made to follow the purple fin.

All that was left was Lyric, Dinari, the zebra, and I. Unfortunately the Samaki still had Lyric by the leg, the Minotaur had Dinari, and Ari was busy trying to keep himself between Falmer and me.

“GET THE OTHERS TO MOVE OUT,” Ari yelled to her before turning his eyes to the Minotaur, “Release my friend.” Their eyes narrowed And to every being’s surprise he dropped her; with a pop she was gone.

With an angry snort he started walking to the help the crew take off, “Take better care of her, the sea is no place for her or her brother.”

How did he-

The sound of wood breaking tore at my ears.

Ari’s ships started to move, and to my eyes widened as many more fins showed through the choppy sea. Crackles started up as the lightshow began, hitting the sea at random, every shot clearly hitting something as they illuminated the water. Greens, blues, and purples glittered in a haunting visage, and it was enough for even the Samaki to turn fin and run to the cannons as shouts for help came from the crew.

Falmer still gazed at me hungrily as another pop rang out.

“YOU!” Ari looked to the downed captain. “YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE,” He made a stumble towards us and Ari just turned his back on him, facing the zebra and me with a smile. After giving us both a nuzzle, the love making me sigh, his horn started to glow.

A rumble started from the ship, followed by a thump, and more crackling. Twangs, ropes whipped the deck, inches from my flank, more fear came, and a buzz of magic flicked across my chitin.

Blinking it disappeared.

My stallion was now bucking as Falmer gripped his flank, the kicks doing little to deter him.

“ARI!”

The mare was still there on his bow, but the boat was turning and rocking, fins circling it. Even more worrying to our current position were the sounds coming for below the airship. As the airship lifted sluggishly, creaking sounding from down below, the sea seemed to be full of serpents.

“PLEASE ARI, LET THE SERPANTS GET HIM!” Ari’s ear twitched as mine folded back.

A snort and whimper came from my back, the fear turning to anger, and with careful hurried clip clops the injured mare hobbled up to the mbzuzi. She stomped on his ‘hand’. It was awkwardly done on three legs but was very effective anyway.

Howling, he arched his back, off balance as he couldn’t find any ease from the pain. Grip failing, Ari’s short kicks drew he back, till he got one in that sent him flying, over the railing and roaring the whole way.

A flash and bang brought our eyes to the sky, the blue horizon seeming to bend under our gaze.

Then a moment of quiet noise overtook the deck, huffing from Ari and the zebra, a stunned murmur growing from the pirates.

Metal screeching caused every being to cover their ears, splashing followed.

“IT GOT OUR ENGINE!” The airship continued to slowly rise above Ari’s ship anyway, three more engines working double time.

Pops cracked in my ears as my stomach swam, and the world became a kaleidoscope of color.

It settled finally on black and white. Blinking it cleared further, forming the shapes of many zebras. Where was I? Looking around I could tell I was in a medical area of some kind, groups of zebras and…Several equestrians trotted around the room, all wobbling with the ship while carrying red bags and other supplies.

A muzzle popped in front of me, “I trust you to be a good patient now.” I was speechless; the zebra didn’t hold any terror in her gaze, so I nodded to her, trying to wrap my mind around this.

No fear.

I was in an infirmary…And no being was running from me, well the equestrian’s were sneaking fearful looks at me, but they were still carrying on with their tasks.

Did I die?

****

Ari

Please, please, please die!

I couldn’t help but think as I watched the sea serpents swarm the airship. Their huge bodies, easily a hundred feet long for some, were wrapping themselves around any part they could reach. Unfortunately for us, my ship was still in easy reach, our escape progress was slow to nonexistent with the waves pushing us towards the rocks, the serpents circling around us like oversized sharks, and the wind whipping around like no one’s business. It wasn’t helpful, the others had at least made it out farther, already grower smaller in the horizon.

At least the ape was serpent food now.

Scales scraped our hull, causing the zebras on deck to look to me.

“Any idea how to kill a sea serpent,” I asked Folami, she sighed and looked down at the deck before moving into my side. I didn’t tense this time, like I had the first time, she was just trying to help.

“Not unless you can get manage another beam and blast it right between the eyes. They have multiple hearts according to legend, so a headshot is our only guarantee…Their scales are pretty much magic resistant, unless it was a beam of the caliber you used on Arch. It wouldn’t do more than anger the serpent.”

Not what I wanted to hear.

Don’t get me wrong, I probably could get a couple more beams of that power out, but there was way more than two in the water…And I was magically exhausted. Capturing these ships had done a number on my already starving and injured body, physically I felt like I was just floating. These hooves had smashed nearly six hundred and fifty chains, they were numb, cracking. All while my muscles felt like I had run a marathon.

Marble came trotting up then, “Ari…” She trailed off as she looked at me.

Another bump rocked the deck.

“Yes?”

“Uh, you are bleeding…”

That didn’t surprise me, my neck felt wet, and I had just wrestled an ape of some sort. That last part still left so many questions about this world. A talking, pirating ape, ‘Apes of the Caribbean’, dear god it hurt my brain.

“Just take them off, wrap me up after I get rid of these damn over grown sharks.” Puzzled looks came to me. “Earth water predator, let me think…” So they began unwrapping me, bloodied bandages piling up on the deck. I looked at the nearly soaked fabric, knowing I couldn’t swim to fight them if I was bleeding this much. That would just be asking for- That’s it!

More creaks sounded and I gave Marble a worried look, there was still half of my body left. Conjuring scissors, I started clipping through them faster then she could bite. “Come on,” I muttered to myself as my core and channels dimmed suddenly, hunger increasing. She backed off.

“Ari?” They questioned uncertainly as every pony watched and the boat wasn’t moving, the wind changed, but the sea serpents were keeping us immobile.

Levitating the bloody bandages I started to bring them over the railing, “They are just giant, magic resistant sharks, attracted by blood.” As the distance grew over the rough waters they started to drip, small red drops making a trail to the big airship full of blood sacks. It was survival here…His crew also needed to pay for their actions, I had found many dead mares in these hulls, and not all were starved.

Another boom forced me to look up, the air was rippling and bending in the sky…And the sun was beginning its descent.

That should be far enough.

“Any more bloody bandages around here?” Most of the serpents were wandering over to the pile I dropped but some stuck around. Marble nodded, fetching more with surprising speed. Repeating the process, I brought it out to airship’s area. I squinted my eyes, black smoke obscuring my view as the engines were in a tug of war with the sea serpents.

We were moving.

Sighs of relief went out across the deck, almost drowned out the gales sending us after my fleet. They were still way ahead of us but that was okay, we had the headset still.

“Tell the fleet to head for home.”

I slowly wobbled my way down the steps; Chrissy didn’t look too good when I saw her.

“Home?” Folami questioned as I touched down on the deck, she sounded it out slowly, like it was a foreign word for her.

“You do live in Zebrica right?” I looked back at her open mouth, “I just assumed since Ayodele said your family would be affected that you were from there.”

Finally she nodded, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Pink glow started up from her as every pony gathered around, eyes were glassing over, and the screams and booms faded into the background. “H-hello,” Folami stuttered out met with a chorus of greetings from the nine captains I had unofficially made. “S-set a course for home, we are going home.” Raucous cheers and stomping echoed out from every mare on deck, heads peeked out, and then the cheers traveled.

The king of pirates was dead.

Slipping off the headset and dropping the jewel she rushed to me, Marble joining in, hugging with all their hearts. Tears even threatened to come from me; truly, this was a feeling unlike any other. I was speechless, any words I could think of putting to the reality of what I had done were too little, it hadn’t even occurred to me all of what this meant to them. Some ideas had occurred but, seeing the tears, the joy, it was overwhelming.

Giving them some minutes to wear themselves out, the light dimming with my energy, adrenaline could only take me so far.

“Hey, I’m feeling a little tired. I’m going to go catch up with my mares.” Silence fell, the hugs ended and I felt the question in the many splayed ears and uncertain looks. “Yes, my mares are unconventional-.”

“She’s a changeling.” Marble stated, like the sky was blue.

I continued to the infirmary door, “Yes and she has been just as affected by the crazy weather as the rest of every pony, except her land really was ruined to the point of no return.” Opening the door I continued, every ear was turned to me. “Her home was flooded out, her people were starving and no pony would freely feed an emotionvore,” I rolled my eyes at that. “So she came with a plan, not a perfect plan-,” we locked eyes, Chrissy looking at me with wide eyes, “-but it was from the right place. She could have killed me when we first met, drained me dry or any other silly story you may have heard.” I crossed the last steps to her. “But she didn’t, she was upset, just like some of you must be, her entire family was dead, and she expected death from me.”

“You didn’t kill her.” A small, scared voice asked.

The source had me frowning, “No, it made sense to try everything to save your family, especially when no one would help…” I stood frozen in front of Chrissy, staring at the sight, it made no sense…Weren’t they all zebras? “Why are you tied up?” Looking beside her I saw a bat winged pony also hog tied. “Can some pony please explain this?”

My knees started protesting, so I settled in beside Chrissy, wrapping my good wing over her. Murmurs grew over her sigh of relief; still no one moved to answer the question.

I looked around; Kapera was stroking Dinari’s head, which was laid beside her brother. Wincing I moved on…He had lost an arm and what more could be said. They were exhausted. Lyric…She was being patched up still, her tail bone quirked at an odd angle. Bat pony didn’t seem too chatty, looking at me with wide eyes and splayed ears. All that was left was the zebra herself.

“What is your name?”

…

“Look I don’t bite; I just like to know who I’m addressing.”

A very audile gulp sounded and she muttered something out, Chrissy didn’t help me hear it by snorting. Sighing I levitated her over; this caused her to look at me fearfully. “There is no need to look like that, I just want to know why they haven’t untied you yet…Or attended to your burns.” Her mane was gone and the back of the neck was scattered with angry red burns.

“Pleasedon’tkillme!”

I blinked at her and cocked my head at her, before it hit me. She didn’t know me, having just come from slavers, and was still tied up. Giving her as warm a smile as I could, I untied her.

Chrissy shifted beside me and the other zebras grew tense.

“There,” I put her down in front of me. “We aren’t with the slavers as you can see so there is no need to fear us. Why would I want to kill you?”

“Ayomide,” taking a deep breath she looked wearily up at me. “That’s my name.”

I nodded to her, “Hello Ayomide, it is nice to-.”

Kapera interrupted me, “ARGH!” We turned to look at her, my mare sighing. “Ari, I can’t take this anymore! That mare tried to kill you! We had to run her down in the street and interrogate her to find out who had you.” By this time I turned back to look at Ayomide, she didn’t scream ‘killer’, her pitiful wet eyes and crouched position before me was actually the opposite. My heart was so confused. “She poisoned you! If she hadn’t you wouldn’t have been unconscious on that beach for Arch to find in the first place!”

Deep breath, this didn’t make sense. Why would I have this tiny mare trying to kill me? I had never met her before. Although, I don’t remember what happened on the beach and I was unconscious for four days…Ayomide just didn’t seem the type to kill.

“Ayomide,” she flinched, “Please explain.” Another deep breath and I tightened my wing around Chrissy.

“It was my job. I would get one hundred thousand bits for killing you…And you just wouldn’t die!” Snorts came from many mares. I didn’t know how to feel about that, what do I say when ‘not dying’ is a negative to a mare?

Groans came from Dinari and Lyric, they shifted slightly, and that was good news in my book.

Turning back to Ayomide, “I wouldn’t die…I don’t think I can apologize for that, really, I like living. So who was going to pay you these bits?”

“It doesn’t matter does it? You aren’t going to let me live anyway.”

Awkward silence, every zebra looking at me, Chrissy looked at me with a frown, and Ayodele was making her way over with wide eyes. What do I say? Nothing in my life every prepared me for any person wanting to kill me, much less failing to and telling me. Forgiveness seems too…Problematic, she could just try again when it seems like I have forgotten. But killing her in retaliation didn’t seem too realistic either. What if her assassin friends came after me? I mean technically she hadn’t killed me so more were bound to be coming anyway. Most pressing in this room was that fact that she was a zebra, when I had been fighting for the freedom of the zebras from slavers, from death. How could I offer the same fate as a slaver?

“Why?”

She looked at me in shock and I nodded to her.

“Well, for money.” I raised an eyebrow. “Zebrica isn’t exactly booming with job opportunities, every zebra is, was sucking every bit they could from the tourists and traders, we needed to pay-.”

“I’m aware of the previous status the slavers had left your country, I am changing that, changed that I hope. Maybe some minor pirates floating around…But they will be easy, especially when they don’t have hostages. Just one spell and I get them all in their cabins, fish in a barrel. But why killing, one hundred thousand bits is a lot, more than one bribe?”

A sad chuckle escaped her as a body slumped against my other side, it was Ayodele.

“It was a silly dream…I wanted my family to never have to worry about another bribe there whole life, maybe enough to convince the pirates to leave us along.” Like a popped balloon the tenseness slowly left the room, unsure looks replacing it, looking to me on my decision.

“Not silly, naïve maybe…But I’m just as guilty of that trait as Kapera loves to point out, but it kept me going. Although stopping and thinking it through was needed…Is needed.” Pausing I looked around the lantern lit room, at all the lives that are going to go on now. “If you lived what would you do with your life?”

Ayomide fidgeted under my gaze, I was watching her, and I could feel Chrissy tense beside me. I thought of our foal, love for my mare, and also what I would tell them.

“She would come home.” Ayodele spoke from my side, eyes narrowed at the mare. “My cousin would kiss her mother and apologise, she would help in the potion shop, and never poison another being. Live a happy life free of pirates, and eventually find a nice stallion and have foals.” Turning to me she gave me a sad smile, I was too shocked, reeling from this to response.

Eyes looked between us and I was put at a loss.

“Chrissy?” She hummed and shifted, “Do you feel alright with her living?” We were a herd, this wasn’t just my decision, and it would affect our future, the foal’s safety. Not to mention she was master of disguise, I’m sure she could detect a lie.

“I want to hear her say it; sure, her cousin certainly believes it. But Ayomide has killed before, how do we don’t know she won’t turn to that if bits get tight?”

Murmurs of thought went around and I had to admit that was a solid point, it was certainly more lucrative than the couple of hours I worked.

“I-I would! My cousin, Ayodele is correct…Killing is, was the worst part of the job.”

Her eyes seemed genuine, shinning with tears, and I wanted to believe her but I was soo tired. Wanting this over could just be my tiredness talking. A yawn escaped me at that thought, all day fighting…

“Look, for the sake of me getting some rest, can we agree to a probation period? Ayomide gets checked up on, reintegrated or whatever needs to happen, and we see if she can handle it. If, on the odd chance that the urge to murder comes back well we can talk it over, but I really don’t want to kill her.”

Another yawn came out, looking around I spotted Lyric, all bandaged up. I brought her over, moving Ayodele to her usual position.

Every pony was looking at my would be assasin still.

I sighed, of course. With a squeak from her I pulled her under my chin, and rested her body under my neck. “There! She is contained, besides she has nowhere to go, the sea serpents are probably around somewhere out there.” Shudders went through the group and they slowly went back to whatever they had been doing, glancing at us from time to time.

Closing my eyes I felt my muscles relax, my fur was clumped with new blood but I didn’t care, I could-

“What about me?!” A strident male voice asked.

Cracking an eye I looked and found the bat pony looking around incredulously as no pony paid him attention. Fuck, I just want to rest, is that too hard?! “I fought slavery all day long, I need rest. Also you clearly did something wrong if no pony has untied you yet. So good night and all that, talk in the morning, okay?”

Hissing came from Chrissy and I looked over, a hoof was touching her back.

Dear lord! I closed my eyes as she quieted down. Good-

More hisses, I didn’t even need to open my eyes to know why as the light dimmed through my eyelids and bodies started piling up. Pony pile up time. More ponies opting for Lyric’s side than Chrissy’s, I think the hissing turned them off, go figure. To me it wasn’t threatening, saying ‘go to sleep’, and ‘don’t open that can of worms, unless you want to be up all night’.

“Chrissy.”

“Yes, Ari,” she replied tersely.

“Can we talk about this in the morning? Before or after breakfast, it’s your choice.”

Silence reigned, till she sighed in my ear, “Fine, but I expect two breakfasts.” I nodded faintly, my head feeling like it was weighted down.

“Tomorrow…”