As I paced in my cell, desperately wracking my brain to try and find out what to do, something... weird happened.

At this point my fellow prisoners were starting to flip out, and the resulting mess of noise wasn't doing anything to help my concentration.

I tried calling out to Lassie again, but she just ignored me, leaving me to figure out what to do on my own. It was as I was about to just say 'fuck it' and prepare for the worst that all the noise abruptly cut off.

Aside from the churning waves outside, the occasional screech of the Charybdis in the distance, and the commotion somewhere above me, there was complete and utter silence in the room.

I blinked and turned to the bars of my cell with a bewildered frown. Cautiously I moved closer to the cell door and placed my hands on the bars as I looked outside.

I didn't see a single soul.

"What the fuck?" I muttered, furrowing my brow before calling out a bit louder, "hello? Anyone out there?"

Nothing.

I called out again a few more times to the same result. I couldn't see all that well, and my view was limited by my cell, but I could only assume each and every other prisoner had disappeared just like Napoleon.

What is this, the Rapture?!

As I tried to figure out this new mystery, there was a loud wooden groan and the boat lurched violently. I cried out in surprise as I stumbled and lost my footing, slamming into one of the walls in the process.

I managed to twist my body so that my back hit the wall, but because of that, I wasn't prepared for the second violent lurch that threw me forward.

I hit the ground with a grunt and while it didn't hurt too much, my glasses once again flew from my face and skidded across the wooden floorboards of the cell.

I really hated having terrible vision.

Another screech shook the boat, the volume having grown exponentially louder than before. My heartbeat began to pick up once more as I scrambled to my feet.

I found my glasses and shoved them back onto my face before rushing over to the cell door once again and grabbing on for dear life in case the boat decided to lurch a third time.

"HEY!" I shouted as loudly as I could, "SOMEONE GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! COME ON, CAN ANYONE HEAR ME OUT THERE?!"

In truth I wasn't expecting anyone to answer, but to my surprise I heard the door slam open just as the boat lurched again. There was a feminine cry of alarm and the sound of something heavy shuffling against the wooden floor.

A moment later there was a dull thump and a grunt of pain. I tried to get a glimpse of who had entered, but couldn't see anything and settled for calling out again.

"Hey! Who's out..." I paused and shook my head, "you know what, it doesn't matter, just get me outta here or some bad shit is gonna go down!"

"Salvatore?" the voice called back in a panic. There was a short pause followed by the frantic beat of hooves against wood, "Salvatore, is that you, darling?"

My eyes widened in shock as a familiar white unicorn galloped into view.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay, dear!" Rarity breathed with a relieved, if somewhat pained, smile, "when I didn't see you among the others I feared the worst."

"Rarity?" I asked incredulously, "I... what? I thought you were..." I stopped, completely caught off guard by the mare's state, "what the fuck happened you?"

Rarity was a complete mess.

Her mane was frazzled and sticking out at odd angles and there were visible bruises showing through her fur, but her face had gotten the worst of whatever had happened.

The entire left side of her face was one big red welt and her right eye was blackened and swollen shut. I stared at her, momentarily forgetting the imminent danger we were in.

Rarity's expression went from relieved to guilty, her ears flattening as she looked away. When she didn't say anything I went to ask again, but stopped as her horn lit up and she enveloped the lock in a bright blue aura.

"Well, you see..." Rarity finally replied quietly, her words somewhat hard to understand due to the swelling of her face, "a lot has happened in the last half hour or so. It appears Princess Luna got wind of what was going on and—"

"Wait," I interjected, my eyes widening in shock, "Luna's here? Now?"

Holy shit! She actually showed up!

"Luna and Discord," Rarity confirmed with a nod, "it was they who rescued me and restored my memory. They managed to rescue the other girls as well... and... well... Twilight and I had a bit of a... falling out over... o-over Spike."

I winced... at several things.

Apparently the tears rolling down the mare's face weren't just tears of physical pain. If Rarity's face was anything to go by, she and Twilight had more than just a simple 'falling out'.

I had no idea the lavender princess had it in her to do that to a person... or pony. It was one thing to read about Twilight being so violent in fiction, but to actually see the result of what the mare had done right before my eyes...

It honestly disturbed me a bit.

There was also the fact that this world's Discord was here... and suddenly the whole disappearing act of Napoleon and the other prisoners made a whole lot more sense... ironically.

But what about me?

If Discord really did make everyone vanish, why wasn't I swept up in his spell? Did he not know I was here? And what about the crystal? Did he not sense that either, or was he here to collect it along with the other girls?

Now that I thought about it, had any of the other Discords found these crystals, or was it something only that Discord could see and sense?

Another loud screech made me drop the subject altogether for the moment and I turned to Rarity who had just unlocked the door.

"Hey Rarity, I... sorry... about what happened with Twilight," I said as I quickly stepped out of the cell, "but we need to go, now. We'll have plenty of time to talk about it once we're out of this mess and away from the giant whirlpool monster of death."

"I... yes I suppose you're right," Rarity replied shakily, wiping her eyes with a hoof and trotting after me as I started making my way out of the room, "I can't very well try to make amends if I die at sea, can I?"

Before I could answer, the boat shuddered beneath us and another deafening screech made me clap my hands over my ears.

Unfortunately that didn't help against the next violent lurch of the ship and both Rarity and I went tumbling into the bars of one of the cell doors.

As I nursed what I was sure were some bruised ribs and cursed inwardly at losing my glasses again, I suddenly heard a loud, deep, ominous, and drawn out creak of wood somewhere below the floorboards.

Then something snapped and a low rumble filled the air.

I didn't know what that meant, but I had a fairly good idea it wasn't good. I hissed in pain as I rose to my feet and turned to help Rarity up.

"Yeah, we gotta go... like, now," I pressed, "I don't like the sound of that. I think something important broke, and I get the feeling this thing's not gonna be floating for much—"

"Rarity?!" came another familiar shout from up ahead, "Rarity?! Where are you? We must leave at once! The boat is all but lost and the beastly whirlpool draws ever closer!"

A moment later, a midnight blue blob rushed into the room. It stopped for a moment and I couldn't tell for sure, but I assumed it, it being Luna, was looking around for Rarity.

It didn't take long for the alicorn to find us, and I heard her breathe a sigh of relief as she made her way over. As she got closer, I could make out more of her features, but apparently she only had eyes for Rarity at the moment, completely ignoring me as she spoke.

"Rarity, thank the moon I found you when I..." she said before finally turning to me with a bemused frown that became a look of recognition a few seconds later, "wait... I remember you. You're that strange creature whose—"

"Hey, good to see you again," I interjected, holding my side with a pained grimace, "can we make introductions later, please? The boat's sinking apparently, there's a giant monster out there, my ribs are killing me, and I lost my glasses... again."

"I..." Luna blinked in surprise before shaking her head and giving me a grave nod, "yes... yes you're absolutely right," she lit up her horn, "there will be time for questions later, now we must make haste and return to the others."

Questions.

Yeah, I had some questions of my own—mostly for this world's Discord. I ruminated on those questions as Luna's horn brightened and, with a flash, I soon found myself on the deck of the ship for the first time.

I didn't even have time to take anything in before I fell to my knees and retched all over the wooden deck.

Apparently teleporting did not agree with me. I heard all sorts of screaming, screeching, rumbling, and several other noises I couldn't place at the moment due to my current condition.

Had I been paying more attention and had my glasses, I would've noticed that something had gone horribly wrong.

I would've realized that both Luna and Rarity were nowhere to be seen. I would've noticed that Discord, the prisoners, and the remaining Elements where nowhere to be seen.

I would've realized that I was trapped alone with a very panicked, very angry crew. As it stood, I only barely managed to look up just in time to come face to face with the barrel of a flintlock pistol.

The creature behind the pistol said something in a furious tone, but I didn't hear it as all my attention was focused on the barrel of that gun.

My mind locked up and I couldn't think, I could only remain there on my hands and knees staring at the thing with a dumbfounded expression.

A loud crack, a flash of agony, and before I could even curse my own luck, I was returned to that oppressive darkness once again.

Something weird's going on and Savaltore's caught in the middle of it, but unfortunately those answers will have to wait. For now, we'll have to see what happens next.