Sailors scampered about the deck as they worked to set up the impromptu ring at the center of the Buried Treasure. It wasn’t anything the professional boxing commission would approve of, given that they used the same ropes they used for everything else to outline the ring with nothing but the ship’s planking to break a fall. Not that it bothered me all that much. Compared to fighting in a room slowly filling up with sand or a booby-trapped death maze, these were luxury accommodations. Besides, rough-and-tumble was my game.

I was busy putting on some gloves the crew had given me. They were thin and battered from use, more intended to protect a pony from hurting their own hoof than to provide any kind of safety to an opponent, but they were enough for what I needed to do. Capital stood near me, examining Ephemera and her goons. “Which of her guards do you think she'll throw at you?” he murmured.

I took a moment to look up from the gloves to study our prospective challengers. Ephemera had a glare set to smouldering as she stared back at us. As seemed to be the norm, her guards flanked her in stock-still silence. Looking at people like that made me wonder how in the world they dealt with the boredom of standing around and doing nothing all day.

“Usually by sneaking in conversations with each other when they think no one’s looking,” Puzzle offered. “At least that is this one’s experience, though even then it found it endlessly tedious.”

Daring gave him a lopsided grin. “Have some experience at playing guard there, Puzzle?”

Puzzle nodded. “In addition to a great many other occupations. Being a shapeshifter spy requires this one to wear many hats.”

“Literally, in a lot of cases,” I guessed, unable to repress my smirk.

As I studied the group, my attention fell on one specific individual. “Hm, probably her new guy. He seems like one of the more capable ones she's had.”

Puzzle Piece, as he called himself, had struck me as a nobody at first, but I found myself reevaluating him in the lead-up to the fight. My gut screamed that this new guy was bad news.

Capital wasn’t as convinced, raising an eyebrow. “You think so? No offense, but the other two seem a bit more intimidating than the strapping young fellow. They’re quite a bit bigger than he, and each of them looks like they know how to handle themselves in a fight.”

I shook my head. I’d been watching the janissary-like guards for a while now, and my adventuring experience let me get a good measure of someone just from a bit of passive observation. “They're big and muscle-y, and they probably know how to throw a punch, but that's about all they've got going for them. I doubt they’ve heard of the word ‘initiative’ and they're not gonna be able to adapt if I pull something unexpected. The new guy seems to know enough to use his head for something other than a blunt instrument.”

Capital seemed unconvinced. “You can tell all that just by looking at him?”

“Yeah. New guy's looking at me like someone who's trying to figure out how good I'd be in a fight. He’s not making any nervous motions over there, but he doesn’t strike me as the overconfident type either.” I stomped a hoof to check the right glove. “Nah, he’s done this dance before, I’d bet good bits on it.”

“Some of these chaps already have bet on that.” Capital frowned as he watched some of the sailors exchanging coins, with one of the ringleaders calling out the odds. “But I’ll trust your judgment on this. You’re starting to make me wish that the other two were going to step into the ring now.”

“No argument,” I agreed. “The other two ... one looks like there's nothing going on at all upstairs, and the other only ever looks at me when he's trying to sneak a peek at my butt. Sure they’re big, intimidating, and probably know how to hit things with a stick, but they’re nothing I haven’t dealt with already. They’re only good until they fight somepony on their own level.”

Capital frowned as he watched Ephemera’s group. “And after looking at them, I’m going to have to agree it’s the new one that you will have to deal with. Neither of her guards are removing their armor while the other guy is stretching himself out. Any idea who he is?”

“Not sure.” Though now that he mentioned it, I was curious. Ephemera usually just hired big and dumb, probably as some sort of compensation. “It's unusual. Ephemera usually doesn't want anyone with enough brains to figure out how she works.”

“Don’t know why.” Capital scratched his chin. “I always found help that knew what it was doing to be more useful. I find communication with my staff to be important.”

Capital’s butler, Proper Penny, cleared his throat and broke in with his usual carefully neutral tone. “Like how you listened to my suggestion to spend some time skiing in the mountains instead of putting your life on the line for an archaeological expedition where the competition might very well try and kill us, sir?”

Capital scoffed and waved the idea off. “Where’s your sense of adventure, Proper? This will be a grand tale to tell for years to come!”

“Of course” Proper said evenly. “How silly of me.”

I rolled my shoulders. “Yeah, and back to the topic of Ephemera, you're not a backstabbing jerk who treats everyone who works for him as a completely expendable tool.”

Capital’s eyes went wide. “Heavens no, that is not how a gentlestallion acts!”

I did some push-ups as I warmed up. “I'm sure you've noticed by now there's nothing gentle about Ephemera.”

“I'm afraid to say her charms could use a bit of work.” Capital grimaced and turned his sight back to the new guy. “Think he'll be a problem?”

I grinned and felt my blood pump at the idea of getting a chance to cut loose. It’d been forever since I’d last had a real challenge in a fight. It was possible I was overestimating the guy, but my gut said he was the real deal. “Tougher than the other two, but I can take him.”

Capital grinned and gave my back a jovial pat. “Hear hear! Give him one for the team, Daring!”

Captain Hazim walked over to us, his demeanor grim. “The crew’s done setting up the ring. You ready?”

I punched my hooves together. “You bet I am.”

Hazim grunted. “Get in then. The fight goes on until one of ya is knocked out or submits. No weapons, and no biting. Got it?”

“Simple enough.” I froze a moment before heading into the ring, then took off my hat. I considered hanging it off the corner ringpost, but then turned and gave it to Capital. “You promise to keep an eye on my hat until I get back?”

“Of course!” He saluted me with it and held it to his body.

My opponent and I climbed into the ring. He never took his eyes off me as the second mate checked him for weapons. Ephemera shot me a nasty grin that promised she would enjoy seeing me get beat up. “Last chance to give up, Daring.”

I snorted. “What makes you think I would ever do that?”

“I thought maybe you'd have gotten a clue for the first time in your life.” Ephemera shrugged indifferently. “Crazier things have happened.”

I rolled my eyes as the first mate came over to check me over. “How long did you sit alone in your room coming up with that one?” Ephemera’s only reply was a baleful glare from the opposite side of the ring.

My opponent caught my attention when he spoke up. “You might want to concentrate on your opponent instead of the audience.” The corner of Puzzle’s mouth turned up in a smirk. “Unless you like losing, which admittedly I wouldn't mind.”

“Oh, if that's what you like, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.” I threw a few punches to warm up. I had to account for the rolling deck, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Before long, I had the feel of it and was raring to go.

This one was indeed carefully studying the Do-mare as she threw her practice jabs. This one went about the fight methodically, collecting and organizing facts. Based on her expert stance and jabs, it quickly became clear she knew how to fight. She was clearly very fit, lean muscles covered a body with little to no fat this one could identify, and several scars marred her coat. Her eager grin certainly professed confidence. Whether it was deserved…

This one decided to prod her to find out. “Think you've got this in the bag?”

The Daring-mare shot me a smirk. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“I see humility isn't one of your virtues.”

“Nah, but winning is.”

This one grinned. “Hopefully inexperience doesn’t make you a sore loser, then.”

The Do-mare shrugged indifferently. “Dunno, I've never lost. Shame you won't be the one to find out.”

This one took a defensive stance as she approached it and finished its analysis: the Do-mare was definitely confident, but not unduly so; a level of skill and experience backed up that boldness, but there was still some arrogance there that could be exploited. She would want to attack first, and studying how she fought, this one had a good idea how to counter.

I approached Puzzle steadily, but he didn’t seem eager to get moving himself. Big mistake. You won a fight by attacking, not standing back and letting your opponent throw the punches.

I smirked and flicked my tail and wings in a feint, then threw a quick left jab at his face. To my surprise, he deflected the attack and bolted forward, elbowing me in the ribs in one smooth motion. Before I could recover he’d grabbed my extended leg and flipped me onto the deck. Stars flashed in my vision as he held onto my leg and started to twist it painfully. I reflexively tucked my rear legs in and rolled to relieve the pressure on my leg, barely getting my head out of the way of Puzzle’s hoof as it smacked into the deck.

I got back to my hooves, though Puzzle still held my leg. I snapped both of my wings at his head, but his own wings blocked them. He lowered his stance and leveraged my leg to try and force me to the deck. I leaned into the motion, moving faster than he was ready for. When I hit the deck I immediately lashed out with a rear leg to kick the inside of his arm and finally broke his hold on me.

I’d expected Puzzle to press the attack, but instead he returned to his defensive stance and waited. Okay, that first round had not gone as I’d hoped; this guy was good. Way better than anypony Ephemera had ever hired before, and my sore ribs felt it. I didn’t doubt for a second he would have broken something if I’d given him the opportunity to.

Still, I smirked as the opportunity to finally really have a good fight made my blood pump faster. “What's the matter, scared to throw the first punch?”

“Nope.” Puzzle smirked back. “I’m just waiting for you to throw two left jabs followed by a right hook to the jaw intended to knock me to the deck.”

I froze for a second, then scowled. I hadn’t exactly been thinking to do just that, but that sounded like something I’d do in a fight, especially when I wanted to erase that smirk of his. Though he could have only had a lucky guess from someone trying to get into my head. “Think you got me all figured out, then?”

“Was I right?” Puzzle grinned as he tapped the side of his head. “It’s not too hard to figure out what to look for. You’re not doing anything I haven’t seen elsewhere.”

Okay, that was kinda creepy. Had Ephemera told him how I fought?

“Actually, the Ephemera-mare told this one very little about you,” Puzzle offered. “As you noted, she isn’t the type to talk to her minions, this one included, and this one hadn’t had time to work her over and get more information out of her.”

Daring snorted derisively. “You really want me to believe you could tell all that information just from an exchange during one fight?”

“It isn’t that hard to tell the fighting style someone is using after seeing a few of their moves, and especially not when you’re familiar with the styles to start with. It helps that Freeport is a hodgepodge of peoples for that.” Puzzle shrugged. “Also remember this one had gathered bits and pieces of information from what the Ephemera-mare had told it, gathering information from the Idea-stallion’s retainers, and from studying you with this one’s eyes. From there it’s a matter of making logical deductions.”

Daring pressed her lips together as she visibly thought. “Yeah? How so?”

Puzzle grinned at her. “For example, it’s obvious you went to college. It’s hard to be an accredited archaeologist who gets her work put into museums on a regular basis without a degree. You also believe in your work quite passionately, as should anypony willing to put their life on the line for zero direct personal profit.”

Kukri gasped. “He’s right! That was in one of the Young Daring Do books!”
I raised an eyebrow. “And somehow you can use that to predict exactly how somepony fights?”

Daring crossed her arms over her chest. “Now that’s the part I have trouble believing. I’m still half-convinced he’s probably using some sort of magic and faking it somehow.”

“You and the Shimmer-mare both fight using your instincts,” Puzzle explained. “You feel the situation out and follow your guts in a fight. Meanwhile, this one is an analytical fighter: it analyzes the situation before it and makes deductions. Every fighter has their fighting style, quirks, and tendencies, and this one has gotten very good at using the information it collects against its opponents. This one’s changeling nature probably helps too, in that it's very good at mimicking and studying the movements of others.”

The brief flicker of hesitation that ran through the Do-mare confirmed to this one that it was right, and with its analysis, it was confident it would win this fight. Not that it would be easy; even after our brief exchange this one could tell the Do-mare was extremely fast—faster than this one had initially guessed. She also clearly knew how to handle herself in a fight. Still, this one had a good read on what she was capable of and how to beat her, and there wasn’t any reason to show any doubt.

This one grinned. “Sorry, but this is where I start to pick you apart.”

But that flicker of hesitation faded, and the Do-mare’s eager grin returned. “That so? Well you made one mistake: you gave away what you know.”

The Do-mare charged this one, and this one changed its stance to reflect the attack it saw coming. At the last moment, the Do-mare flapped her powerful wings to take off and then dived down for a low kick. This one stepped to the side and threw a punch at her ribs. The Do-mare pivoted in midair to deflect the attack with an arm. Following through with her momentum, she snapped a wing up at this one’s jaw, forcing this one back a step as she landed on her hooves beside this one.

But this one had expected that and threw a series of quick punches that forced the Do-mare to throw up her arms to block. She launched an instinctive punch back at this one, but this one dodged to the side and, wrapped an arm over and then under her leg to grasp it. But before this one could lock that limb down the Do-mare flapped her wings and jumped up into the air and bucked out her rear legs. This one got its arm up just in time to block the blow, the impact sending a shock of numbing pain though it’s leg. The blow sent the Do-Mare into a backflip where she landed on her hooves.

This one didn’t want to give her the chance to regain her balance, so it went on the attack. This one’s hooves flashed out in a series of quick strikes, most of which the Do-mare blocked and deflected except for a clip to the cheek and shot to the barrel that sent her back on her hooves.

A sudden flash of fire burned in the Do-mare’s eyes and this one shifted its stance ready to deflect the incoming left jab, step inside her right haymaker, and deliver a quick uppercut to her jaw. This one raised its right hoof to deflect the expected jab, only for a right jab to hit it in the face. A second later a left haymaker plowed into the side of this one’s head and sent it staggering as stars flashed in its vision. The crowd cheered as the momentum of the match shifted in the Do-mare’s favor.

This one staggered back as it tried to regain its composure, but the Do-mare wasn’t about to let this one recover. It was as she poured on more blows that this one saw what had compromised its defense: she was fighting left-hoofed. Just a moment ago she’d been fighting right-hoofed. Had she been left-hoofed all along? This one shifted its stance to compensate, for this one had fought plenty of opponents that had been left-hoofed.

But as soon as this one settled into its new defense the Do-mare shifted back to a right-hoofed stance and clocked this one in the jaw. Before this one could recover it received another hammer blow to the side that nearly blew the wind out of it. This one was firmly on the defensive, trying to compensate for the Do-mare constantly shifting her attack between an orthodox and south-paw style.

Damnit, she was ambidextrous, and actually knew how to fight both right- and left-hoofed! This one had never encountered that before with an opponent who could switch so seamlessly during a fight. It was badly throwing off this one’s rhythm and ability to predict what was coming.

This one silently cursed its luck. This wasn’t the type of fight where this one could use any of its weapons or tools unless it wanted to get on the bad side of the Captain and crew, and it’s venomous fangs weren’t an option either. No, this one was stuck using its hooves and wits to win, which was a problem when this one found itself backed up against the ropes with the Do-mare ready to continue the assault if it made a move.

“Knock him out, Do-mare!” Kukri cried out.

Puzzle sighed. “This one sees how much its past favors mean to you.”

“That’s because you were on the wrong side,” Kukri said in her defense. “Were. You’re good now, though.”

Puzzle shot her a wry grin. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Daring snickered. “Well if you weren’t such a bad guy at the time, she’d be cheering for you too.”

I smirked as I had Puzzle trapped against the ropes. Sweat matted my coat in the oppressive humid air, but I couldn't have felt better. This wasn’t the first time I’d fought an opponent like him. Guys like him were a well-oiled machine: cold and efficient, and having put in the hours to train themselves into something dangerous. You needed to drop a wrench into their gears. If you could do that, get them off-balance and throw them off their game, then they tended to break down and fall apart at the scene. Now I had him, and he knew it.

“Not so talky now, are ya?” I gloated a little as I stepped closer.

Despite being on his heels, Puzzle still managed to give me a grin. “Just giving you the attention you deserve. I didn't want you to think I wasn't taking you seriously, otherwise you might get offended.”

“Point.” I started skipping back and forth and changing my footing to keep him guessing when and where the hammer was going to fall. “Still, I thought you said you were gonna analyze me and pick me apart easy?”

“Proper analysis requires data,” he told me. “Though if you're getting bored...”

He charged me without further warning. Seems he got tired of me taking the initiative and kicking his butt. He threw a series of quick punches that I either deflected or dodged, and I switched to fighting left-hoofed and fought back with my own fast punches that forced him back. He turtled up, now firmly on the defensive as he was unable to keep up with me. Switching again now that he was against the ropes, I dashed forward and launched more punches and kicks to try and get through his defense. He tried to fight back to get out of his precarious spot, but I easily deflected his attacks and kept right on top of him.

Then I found my moment. His right arm was a bit too slow in returning to a defensive position after deflecting an attack, and I slammed my hoof into the side of his head with a hook. His eyes glazed as his brain got scrambled and he staggered.

Seizing my opportunity, I leapt onto the ropes and pole vaulted off of them. My rear hoof snapped out with the intention of taking Puzzle’s head off. I only caught the whisper of a smirk from Puzzle after I had already committed to the attack, and knew I’d made a big mistake.

Like a viper, his hooves snapped up to grab my outstretched leg and, using my momentum against me, slammed me onto the deck. My world exploded into pain. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’d been in a world of hurt more times than I cared to think about, I’d have been beaten right then and there. But I had, and instincts kicked in when Puzzle locked my left arm behind my back and reached with his right to cut off my airway. I reached up with my free arm to keep him from choking me, but it was a struggle to keep him at bay. It only got worse as Puzzle wrapped his hindlegs around my body and rolled onto his back to get more leverage as his right arm slowly closed on my throat.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I’d let myself get caught up in the moment. I’d gotten too used to dealing with Ephemera’s two-bit thugs where I could play it risky and get away with it to end a fight quick, so instead of keeping up with what was working in a fight, I’d hit a big move that telegraphed what I was doing. A dumb mistake against a guy who would take advantage of every opportunity and could apparently read my moves.

Worse still, I wasn’t much of a ground-pounder, which was really bad when I was about to get choked unconcious. If that happened, the best I could hope for was that I’d be short one magic compass. At worst, I’d probably never wake up.

I outstretched my wings and kicked my legs, forcing us to roll back over so that I was on my belly again. I got my hind legs under me and grunted with effort as I precariously forced myself up with Puzzle continuing to hold on. I lost my balance, but went with the momentum to slam Puzzle’s back against the nearby turnbuckle, causing him to grunt in pain. He managed to maintain his hold, and now had my right arm trapped against my throat as he tried to worm his arm into a choking position.

Running out of time, I remembered my joke I’d told Capital about how Puzzle was the type to use his head in a fight. I pushed my head as far forwards as I could, nearly choking myself on Puzzle’s leg as I did so before snapping my head hard back into Puzzle’s head. The impact caused him to grunt in pain and loosen his grip. Seizing the moment, I pulled myself from his hold and spun to face him.

The back of my head stung, but at least I was out of that bad situation. I grinned as Puzzle blinked in pain from the corner. “Aww, did that hurt?” Before he could answer, I headbutted him again. He turned his head so that our foreheads collided, and my vision flashed white. I stumbled back as the whole world started spinning.

Ow, that might have been a mistake.

“Are you trying to give us both a concussion?!” Puzzle growled as he rubbed his head. Several members of the audience laughed while others hollered for us to keep at it.

I groaned as I grimaced through the self-inflicted pain. “Now I know why Wild Sun always told me nopony wins in a headbutt.”

This fight was starting to get dangerous. I couldn’t afford to play around with this guy anymore. The hot humid air was sapping me, and with my main advantage being my speed, that was bad news. We were going to get into another grapple sooner or later, and that’d be it for me. I needed to find a way to finish this guy and end this quick. The good news was that Puzzle only had one direction to go with him being stuck in the corner. Puzzle could predict logical stuff but he clearly had trouble spotting anything wild and different. I could use that against him.

He charged me, a hoof snapping out at my jaw, but I wasn’t going to get into another exchange with him. I flapped my wings as he came at me and leapt over him, one of my legs kicking off of him to get the air I needed. I stopped myself on a turnbuckle with my outstretched hooves. Before Puzzle could turn around, I brought one of my hind hooves up and delivered a kick right to his groin. He gasped in pain, his legs buckling from the debilitating pain.

Puzzle grumbled. “This one had shifted its southward equipment just in time to avoid the worst of that, but a hit to the groin still very much hurts even as a female.”

“More information than I needed, Puzzle,” I told him.

Seeing he was down, I turned and went after him before he could recover. But before I could get to him, he spun on the ground and kicked his hindleg out to hit me in the knees and I fell hard to the ground. Knowing I was in danger, I scrambled to my hooves as Puzzle did the same. Puzzle was shaky on his hooves, but he still managed to lunge at me. I threw a wild punch, but he managed to dodge the worst of it and got into a grapple with me.

Our limbs twisted and struggled with one another as we each tried to get the better grapple—or in my case, try and get out of it all together. One attempt at a lock followed another as we went back and forth, the two of us too close for me to get any decent strikes in.

Then, right in the middle of our tussle Puzzle suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as he looked over my shoulders. Before I could figure out what was going on, he abruptly fell to his back and lashed out with his hindlegs. I barely got my arms up in time to keep my sternum from getting broken as I absorbed the impact.

A second later a green-colored lightning bolt struck between us, exactly where we’d just been standing.

“The hay?!” My head snapped in the direction the bolt had come from, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see its source. Ephemera grimaced as her gnarly wand smoked, then corrected the aim, pointing it right at me. I snarled, all thoughts of continuing the fight with Puzzle forgotten. “You dirty cheating nag!”

Her bodyguards moved to block me as I charged her. I vaulted off the ring ropes and flew over the muscle. They reached for me, but obviously hadn’t been expecting me to attack from that angle so quickly. Ephemera’s eyes widened, her wand crackling with energy as I slammed hard into her, and it discharged wildly into the air as she lost her grip on her weapon.

There was just one problem: in my haste, I’d hit her too hard. My momentum pushed me right into her, and the both of us hit the railing with enough impact to send us spiraling off the ship. There wasn’t nearly enough time for me to use my wings before I slammed into the water alongside Ephemera.

After a moment I bobbed back to the surface, taking in a lung of fresh air as I reoriented myself. But before I could get my bearings, Ephemera’s flailing limbs grabbed onto me and dragged me back under. I kicked my legs to get back to the surface, coughing from the seawater that’d gotten into my mouth.

“I have had it up to here with you!” I screamed as I forced Ephemera’s head under the water, then hit her for good measure.

“Alp! I ca—wim!” Ephemera continued to splash as she desperately reached out for me. It dawned on me as I created distance between us that her attempts to grab me was just her genuinely trying to stay afloat.

Captain Hazim’s voice bellowed from the Buried Treasure along with the rest of its crew as one word I really didn’t want to hear echoed over the water:

“Shaaaaark!”

One of the sailors pointed out behind me, and I followed his gaze. A dark fin cut its way through the water, moving towards me way faster than I liked. I started swimming back to the ship, and a sailor called out to me. He tossed me the end of a rope which I caught. I started pulling myself in as fast I could, but froze when I caught Ephemera out of the corner of my eye, losing strength fast as she flailed in a panic.

I gritted my teeth. I hated Ephemera; there wasn’t a single thing to like about her. She’d lied, cheated, and stolen to get everything she’d ever gotten. She’d both left me for dead and tried to kill me on multiple occasions, and even worse, stolen priceless artifacts just so she could make a quick bit. She’d definitely earned a fate of getting eaten by some predator. At least then she’d have done something good with her life. It’s not like I wanted to get eaten by some shark either, and it would probably get to her before it got to me.

I sighed as guilt stabbed at me. She was still a pony, and I wasn’t a killer. I swore at my conscience as I turned and grabbed the thankless and half-waterlogged mare before pulling myself towards the ship, knowing I couldn’t pull fast enough to get away from that shark.

This was extremely inconvenient.

Matters had spiraled out of control after the Ephemera-mare had decided to interfere in the match. Not that she had informed this one she planned on doing that or that it was a possibility at all. Maybe it was because she was merely seizing on a perceived opportunity, but that was the type of thing you planned for ahead of time. Otherwise big messes like this happened.

Now this one’s employer was half-drowned and at the tender mercies of her nemesis. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a shark, a white pointer unless this one missed its guess, was closing in on them. The Ephemera-mare’s guards were in heavy armor, unable to go into the water without drowning themselves. Not that they seemed to know what to do anyways as they stared over the rail helplessly. The Do-mare could kill the Ephemera-mare, but that shark most definitely would in order to make a meal for itself.

“Actually, sharks usually don’t eat ponies,” Kukri informed us. “They’re just curious about what we are and ‘mouth’ us to get a better understanding, kinda like a puppy with a new toy. Ponies usually bleed to death from the bite rather than from being ripped apart by a dedicated attack.”

Daring snorted. “That sounds great when you don’t have one bearing down on you. But just saying, I’m not going to let a shark take a chunk out of my leg just to see what I taste like out of the kindness of my heart.”

“It’s usually a mistake to think nature is your friend,” Puzzle agreed.

While it might be convenient if the Do-Mare perished here, this one’s employer being dead in the water—figuratively or otherwise—was far less so. It wasn’t thrilled with the Ephemera-mare heedlessly taking matters into her own hooves or nearly shooting this one with her wand, but without her there was no expedition, and more importantly no payday.

Thus this one ran over to its equipment and snatched up its gauntlet. Quickly snapping it on, it then ran for the railing and took off into the air, flying over the heads of the observers. There wasn’t much time to aim this one’s shot; either this one hit its target dead-on the first time, or it would hit this one’s employer or the Do-mare.

This one flew close to the water with its gauntlet ready to strike. Belatedly, this one worried about the shark jumping out of the water to try and bite this one, but by then it was too late to change its mind. Hesitation would only have gotten someone killed, so this one made the final corrections in its flight path as the shark sped up for its attack. In but a few seconds this one crossed paths with the shark and this one struck.

Only for an instant did this one’s hoof touch the shark’s fin, but that was enough for the gauntlet to do its job. Electricity flowed from this one’s gauntlet into the shark. This one wasn’t much in the way of a heavy hitter, hence why it had its magic gauntlet. It was made to pack a punch, and the shark briefly convulsed as lethal levels of electricity flash-fried it. To my satisfaction, it slowly sank below the waves.

This one turned, knowing it was probably going to have to help the Ephemera-mare back onto the ship, but what this one saw surprised it. The Do-mare was actually holding on to her as the sailor dragged the both of them onto the deck. Considering the two were longtime nemeses, that wasn’t what this one would have expected. At the very least this one would have expected the Do-mare to let the Ephemera-mare sink through purposeful inaction, if not active malevolence.

It turned out to be a very good thing that they got back onto the deck when they did, because a dark and very large shape, much larger than the great white, slowly made its way up near the surface. There was a brief sucking noise as the shadow of the shark disappeared into the larger shape, and a moment later viscera and pink water bubbled to the surface. Thankfully, whatever beast had come near the surface returned to the depths and disappeared, satisfied with its meal—this one hoped.

“Oooh, that was probably a platejaw!” Kukri exclaimed.

Daring frowned. “A what?”

“It’s a type of deep-sea armored fish that eats sharks,” Kukri informed us. “Imagine a cylinder with a tail, fins, bony armor around the head that’s thick as a shield, and a guillotine for a mouth, and you’re not far off. The local eggheads have some kind of weird name for it, like dunking … dunkle … dunkley-ass…”

“Dunkleosteus?” Puzzle offered.

“That’s the one!” Kukri chirped, sounding far too happy about the prospect.

With no reason to linger in the air, this one flew back to the Buried Treasure and landed on the deck. As soon as the Ephemera-mare was back on the ship, her guards roughly took her away from the Do-mare and shoved her back.

“You’re welcome!” the Do-mare groused as she let them take their employer. “Jerks.”

The Ephemera-mare’s only response was to cough water onto the deck. Captain Hazim strode over and glowered at each mare in turn. “Well, aren't you a sorry pair?”

“One of us sorrier than the other,” Daring declared as she took her hat from the Idea-stallion.

“Indeed.” The Captain focused his glare on the Ephemera-mare. “You lost, missy.”

The Ephemera-mare coughed a few more times before she was able to reply. “L-lost? What do you mean? My champion didn't lose.”

“No, but you’re disqualified for that stunt you pulled.” He extended a hoof to her. “Hand over your compass.”

The Ephemera-mare’s head snapped up with a baleful glare as she seemed to recover a bit of her energy. “I'll do no such thing! It’s mine!” Her hoof instinctively shot to her neck to grasp the compass, only for her hoof to touch nothing. She patted herself, trying to find the compass, and this one developed a sudden sinking feeling in its stomach.

The Do-mare smirked. “It's alright, Ephy, you don't have to.” She presented a compass on a silver chain—our compass—for everyone to see.

Damnit, she must have snatched it while saving the Ephemera-mare. Assuming that hadn’t been her objective all along in pulling her out of the sea. Part of this one admired her boldness and keeping a clear head in a crisis, even if losing the compass this one had nearly lost its life collecting was extremely annoying. This whole fiasco looked like it was going to set us back.

The Ephemera-mare’s eyes widened and she patted herself more desperately to find the compass that had been in her possession just a little bit ago. “B-but I just had it! When—“ she turned a baleful glare the Do-mare’s way.

The Do-mare smirked as she slowly waved the compass back and forth. “You didn't think I was gonna let it sink with you, did you?”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.