Rain. It had to rain today. Black clouds hung over their heads and blocked the sunlight. If that had been the extent of things, Thiemo could have survived. However, as he was not allowed to have nice things, the humidity had settled in and only increased as the days went by. The air was warm and moist, and while he liked certain things that way, this was not one of them as sweat bathed his body. He had tied his cloak around his waist while his shirt lay beside him on his bed. He would cross the desert again just to get out of this weather. "Could you please stop moving that mop you call a tail for a few seconds? Otherwise I'll cut something else from here." It also didn’t improve his mood that his sister had made good on her threat and procured a pair of scissors from somewhere. Several clumps of long white hair were already on the ground, more being added with every sharp snap of the scissors.

"You have no idea how sensitive this little piece of skin and bone is!" he replied brusquely even as he took pains to keep still. It was a queasy feeling that snaked up his spine as he felt his sister's hand reaching for his tail. He could understand now why cats couldn’t stand people holding their tails.

Thiemo shifted slightly as Danielle renewed her grip. "I can imagine it must be unpleasant. Many animals use their tail for balancing and others for communication, some even for both. By the way, you have a proper tail, not an elongated appendage like primates. It’s a short extension of your spine with a few bones, tendons, and lots of hair. Speaking of which, it wouldn’t have killed you to comb the damn thing once in awhile,” Danielle muttered and straightened up again, in her hand the last clump of Thiemo's tail.

The shaman rose from his chair as he held his trousers in position with both hands. "I feel naked somehow." Coincidentally, it had nothing to do with half his ass being exposed. "After over a year with all that hair, it’s strange now.”

"Well, now that we’re done here, I’m going to go wash my hands and bleach my brain," Danielle said, leaving him alone in his cabin. He waited a moment until she was out of earshot, then fell on the bed. His gaze shifted towards the phantom in the room who couldn't stop grinning, it seemed.

"Thiemo, can I talk to you?" He was startled when he heard the voice. Amaryllis, still in the form of a woman, stood in the doorway to his cabin and looked down at him.

For a moment he wanted to refuse her request, but then he saw the look in her eyes. "Sure," he said hoarsely, pointing to the chair on which he had just sat, the hair still lying on the ground acting as witnesses to the pair. Not that it seemed to disturb the princess as she sat down on the chair. It was only then that Thiemo realized that she was shorter than he was. He wasn’t used to looking down at her when they were sitting. Her body language didn’t make things better. Her shoulders were drawn together, her back slightly hunched, and she played with her fingers while her eyes darted everywhere, just not on him. Thiemo had never seen her so nervous, or was it because he could read people much better than ponies? Her large eyes and ears could be expressive, but these subtle little clues were simply missing. Three years was probably not enough time to get acquainted with a completely foreign culture, especially if the only specimen to study, his daughter, didn't even grew up in said culture.

But now, as a human, he could gauge just how contrite she was, a moment which managed to do what hundreds of words could not over the past few days. "I'm so sorry," she finally said. "I know I've screwed up. If I could change how things have played out, I would. I should have told you, but I was so... angry! First I lost my siblings and my home. When I finally got a new home and met my father, he was taken from me! I just wanted to take something and destroy it! All this power given to me, I just wanted to unleash it on those who caused pain to me or my family." She clasped her left fist with her right hand, her knuckles cracking. Her entire body trembled. "Twilight is my aunt. I could not leave her alone. Plus I thought I could count on you, that you were the one person who would stand by me. Yet you refused to lift a finger to help... I was so angry that I locked you out to avoid seeing the real reason—to keep getting angry." Her head rose slightly, and she looked him in the eye for the first time since she came in. "Anger gives me so much strength that even I sometimes get scared. It’s because of that anger that I also lost sight of what was important. It was... like mist in my head." Tears ran down her cheeks. "I've made mistakes, but everyone does at some point in their lives. The only thing I know is that I don’t want to lose you."

The shaman allowed her words to sink into his mind. Finally, he took her hands into his. That simple gesture and the look they exchanged said everything that needed to be communicated. With a small jerk, he pulled Amy off the chair and guided her over to the bed. Gently, Thiemo placed a hand on her cheek before he closed his eyes and leaned slightly in her direction.

It felt so right, them being together this way, his heart hammering in relief. He felt like a dehydrated man having that first sip of clear, ice-cold water flowing down his throat. Even his breath trembled as a burden fell from his heart. It was as if he were flying when her lips met his.

Thiemo held Amy, his Amy, down as their tongues danced, while the world around them moved increasingly into the background. "I love you," he whispered at the same moment he got the chance to breathe. His princess leaned against him and gently they both went down on the bed. His hands wandered under her skirt, her hands over his naked chest. In a few hours they would leave the ship, but the time until then belonged to them.

The waves rocked the ship, working in sync with the rain to render it difficult to spot the island in the distance. "Maybe we should wait for better weather!" Twilight shouted over the storm. Three Equestrian pegasi soldiers stood behind her, ready to rise into the air as soon as it was necessary.

"If we can see them, they would be able to do so as well," Mustang answered. "Even with telescopes, they shouldn’t be able to make out any details as things stand, but we can’t stay long without being too conspicuous."

Thiemo stepped past both ponies to the makeshift raft that had been hurriedly assembled. It consisted of a few boards held together with thick rope, with a barrel filled with nothing but air at each end. A simple but functional construction indeed, though the fact that a barrel almost came undone from the ropes when he lightly kicked it made him pause. Still, it should be able to take them to the island. He peered at their destination, noting the strange structures that stood out in the air. Towers for the ballistae, he supposed. Somehow, they seemed to be much too high for it.

"Talking about this over and over won’t change anything," he interjected. "We need the Crystal Heart and that’s almost guaranteed to be on the island." The others followed his finger and looked at the island. "If things get dicey, your three stooges can safely pull us out of the water, drop us off on the beach, and go away again."

"I could come with you," Twilight began. "I've studied Amaryllis' magic for a while and would certainly be able to maintain a human-like form. I could teleport ahead and then levitate you all through the water. No one would see anything in this weather."

"Nothing against you, Twilight, but Amaryllis is a hundred times better suited than you, and I don’t even want her to participate in this mission. She has much more experience as a human," Thiemo hastily said, looking to shoot down that idea before it took root. He did not need another princess to look after. The alicorn hung her head. "Besides, you don’t speak English."

"Then nothing else remains for me but to wish you all the best." Mustang nodded to Thiemo, Amy, and Danielle, breaking into a crisp salute. They all nodded and lifted one of the buoys.

Thiemo was the first to look over the edge of the ship. They were about ten meters above the water and a familiar queasy feeling rose in his stomach. He shook himself—this was not the time to give into his fear of heights. He took a deep breath, turned around, and waved as he fell backwards. Immediately, the man tightened all the muscles in his body, holding himself as straight as possible. Then, from one moment to the next, the world around him fell silent. Water penetrated his nose and ears, and after a moment, he opened his eyes which had instinctively closed.

Down here, the world was still peaceful. There was no storm, no wars, no death, just the endless sea. Then his ears discerned a quiet drumming, and it took him a second to realize that it was his own heartbeat. His gaze wandered to his chest, where the crystal necklace seemed to glow. If the crystal could reflect emotion, it would have shown quiet contentment. However, every moment had its inevitable conclusion, and his ended when he floated to the surface on his buoy.

His head breached the surface of the water and he could see the ship above him. He reached out his left hand and gave a sign that everything was alright.

Amaryllis was the next. She stood at the edge and took a step forward after brief hesitation. While she didn’t suffer any fears of heights, her instincts seemed to have taken over. She dropped from the ship with flailing arms, her legs slightly angled. Unlike Thiemo, she created a loud splash as she touched down onto the surface. Thiemo immediately left his own buoy, cursing himself. He should have told her how to reduce the surface tension.

He dived and did not take long until he spotted Amaryllis. She was perhaps twenty yards from him and paddling like wild to get back to the surface. Immediately, he began to move, his arms surging through the ocean to reach her. Midway, Amaryllis finally noticed him. She blinked, then began to imitate his movements. Thiemo would sigh if it were possible. He followed her and they breached the sea’s surface together, their buoys a few yards away from them.

Danielle was the next. The young woman tossed her buoy forward, leaned forward slightly, and jumped. With her arms in front of her, she dived into the water, so gracefully that hardly a drop rose. The effort was lost in this rain, though. She had said she was swimming regularly, Thiemo recalled. A few moments later, she came back to the surface. She reached for her own swimming aid, then came swimming over to them. "The water might be warm, but I’d prefer to have solid ground under my feet again soon. We should keep going."

"Yeah, let’s go." Thiemo took the two swimming buoys and handed one of them over to Amaryllis. "Remember to keep kicking."

They began to move, the airship slowly fading away. Every now and then, they had to pause to wait for a larger wave, another time to get some air. At some point the White Dove disappeared completely from sight. The waves hid it, together with the earth curvature, from their gazes. Ti was getting closer, and Thiemo quickly realized that he had misjudged size of the towers. They were even larger than expected.

What surprised the group even more were the boats they could make in the distance. It was only logical that Ti had to own boats when humans from there entered Equestria. Nevertheless, it felt like a surprise to Thiemo. He knew that the people of Ti were creative. The flame sword in the tournament had made it clear. They also seemed to have a leadership, or at least someone who coordinated attacks. They already had suspicion who that might be as well. "Should we think of what kind of cover names to adopt?" Danielle asked. "I mean, the chances of at least one of us being known are pretty high." At least they did not have to scream any more, the rain finally subsiding.

"I wish I had a cell phone to record that. I can't be the only one on this world who thinks a cover name is a good idea. How about Athos, Porthos, and Aramis?" Thiemo suggested.

Danielle shook her head. "Only one of them could pass as a woman’s name. How about Charlie, Lucy, and Sally?"

"Only if I can be Lucy," Thiemo countered immediately. "I never liked the cartoons. Gregory, Allison, and Remy? Remy would be close enough to Amy, which could be explained if there’s a slip of the tongue."

"You should decide quickly; a boat is coming in our direction." The siblings turned to Amaryllis and spotted what she referred to. It was small, but fast and had no sails.

"A motorboat?" Danielle asked, giving voice to Thiemo’s thoughts.

"Quick! Amy, you're Remy. Danielle, you’ll respond to Allison and I to Gregory. We were picked up near Manehatten in Equestria and brought back here." The boat was nearer, but still they could not hear the sound of an engine. Something else was powering the ship, though Thiemo had no idea what it could be. Steam or coal would be recognized by the smoke it would have emitted.

Eventually, it approached them to the point where he could make out details, noting that three people were on board. One of them held a telescope in front of his face and pointed to their direction. Another was at the wheel while another sat further back in the boat. Thiemo could only see his head. An idea came to him and he switched his sight. Magic flowed in large quantities from the stern of the boat into the water. A shaman was powering this vessel. Thiemo struck his forehead with his hand. Index had told and showed them how humans had learned from the zebras. It seemed that the knowledge had endured over time. They not only had technology that worked with charged crystals, they also had shamans.

"~Ahoy!" shouted the man with the telescope as the boat slowed. The surprises just kept on rolling. He knew this man, knew the voice. It was on the tip of his tongue. The boat finally came to a halt next to him, and Thiemo could peer more closely at the man. A thick red beard graced his face, red curls on his head that was dripping.

Then it clicked in his head. All that was missing was a dark blue coat that covered his head. "~Aschlant," Thiemo muttered in surprise. This was the man he'd met in Appleloosa. The one who had first told him about what had occurred a thousand years ago. To whom he had left an old artefact.

Aschlant stretched out his hand with a grin. "~Good to see you again, sir."

Author's Notes:

And we arrived at the island. Finally.

Also, if you want to read another awesome story, check this out:
The Devourer

Special thanks to JBL for translating & editing.