Shining Armor's Voyage

        It had been two weeks since the devastating storm. What disturbed the crew was how quiet it was of late. The only sounds that could be heard were the gentle laps of the waves against The Sea Pegasus, their own talking and the quiet creaks and moans the boat gave. The ocean spread endlessly and the sky mirrored as such, revealing no clouds. Octavia had recovered, much to Vinyl's expectations once rationality crept upon her. Derpy was always either with the CMC, talking or playing, or flying none too far from The Sea Pegasus. Since the storm, there had been shifts set so that at least somepony would be at the wheel.

          Octavia and Vinyl were atop the scorched crow's nest, laughing and shivering as the bittersweet memories flooded their every thought. Braeburn was in the navigation room, pondering over the many volumes and collections of maps and charts that was packed into the boat. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Derpywere racing each other below decks in empty barrels that they had found. Spitfire was currently steering The Sea Pegasus, compass in hoof. Shining and Big Mac were sleeping either preparing for their shift or recovering form it. If anything, the quiet, joyless boat was waiting for land to appear any minute. But they were greeted by something else.

          Spitfire overlooked the direction that The Sea Pegasus followed, as if she was a professional. The musicians were too busy indulging each other with each other's conversation. The Appleoosan farm pony read the maps and charts for the fifteenth time that day. Everypony else lay below decks. All of them heard something that resembled a large object hitting water with a great force, but none of them saw anything. Gradually a ring of bubbles appeared around The Sea Pegasus as if many ponies were drowning around them.

          Suddenly, three scaly, almost dragon-like, heads burst through the water, each head strategically placed to seem as if there was no escape for the small vessel. Acting upon reflex, Octavia stretched her hooves outward towards the nearest Hydra head. Two bullets of steel flew from the ends of her hooves and comically bounced of off the scaled head. She heard Vinyl curse behind her, after doing just the same thing to another Hydra head. The two turned to each other each with an expression as if to say "What Now?". Their eyes were drawn to the nearest head as it attacked Octavia. Vinyl grabbed her mare-friend's clothes and pulled hard in desperation. The force of the pull brought Octavia on her hind legs, then on her back, landing on top of her 'rescuer'. The scaly head bit the air, right where Octavia used to be, and withdrew itself back.

          Braeburn galloped out of the navigation room after hearing the reptilian roar the Hydra gave. Seeing a head nearby, he drew his revolver out and took a moment to aim. Pulling the trigger, a powerful bullet flew from the end of the steel barrel and struck true, hitting the Hydra in its eye. The head howled in pain and turned itself to meet the new challenger. Seeing Braeburn, the scaled head opened it grotesque mouth and roared directly at him. Braeburn braced himself as the head hurled towards him. The Hydra head was barely meters away when it heard an ear-splitting bang and felt pain at the back of its throat. Braeburn grinned as he retracted his beloved pistol to replace the two missing bullets. Only when Spitfire pushed him did he notice that another head was attacking him.

          The stallion looked on awe and in terror to see the pegasus light one of her bombs in the face of the Hydra. A gentle hiss escaped from behind fangs. He fumbled around for his pistol which he had dropped when he was pushed. Grabbing it, he turned to fire at the head and stopped. He saw the Wonderbolt as the head hastily bit the mare and retracted. Only her hind hooves and part of her torso remained. Her intestines spilled across the deck, staining it with blood. Her remains fell limp and crashed to the floor, blood flowed like an endless river and spread quickly from the mess. He stared at it for what seemed like an eternity. A massive, yet muffled, explosion sounded, coming from the Hydra. The living two heads howled in unison and retreated beneath the waves, dragging the limp third with them. Blood mixed with sea as the submerged themselves.

          The CMC were horrified at witnessing Spitfire's demise. Their mouths fell to the floor, eyes wide and tears formed in their open eyes. Derpy came to the mourning trio and soothingly stroked their manes. The three fillies snuggled into her golden mane. Derpy comforted them. Sweetie and Applebloom wept openly in front of her, but Scootaloo looked angry instead of sad. something clicked inside her brain, however briefly, and it wouldn't fix itself in a hurry. After the final tear fell to the floor, the purple-maned pegasus headed below deck.

          Octavia and Vinyl came down from the crow's nest after the attack. They soon became aware at what happened to Spitfire. The two stared at the corpse, a lump lodged in their throats and tears in their eyes. Big Mac awoke for his shift, confused at everypony's dismay. Until he laid his eyes on the rear-end of Spifire. He was at a loss for words, more than usual. He didn't quite like the Wonderbolt, be he respected her and he now wished that he had spent more time talking and enjoying her company rather than ignore and loathe it. Guilt flushed over him. He was forced to sit, his legs were too weak. A single tear ran down his cheek, warming it were it ran, and dropped below his chin before landing on the hard wooden floor. He hadn't felt this emotional since his parent's funeral, but now he was allowed to drink. The large red farm pony headed to the store room and opened a barrel of Apple Cider, drinking it whole-heartedly.

          Derpy had awoken Shining and now the whole crew, including a staggering Big Macintosh, gathered around the edge of The Sea Pegasus, where Spitfire's remains lay upon a rowboat along with all of her possessions. Except for her Wonderbolt badge and uniform, which Scootaloo commandeered the badge and Derpy borrowed her uniform, and bombs. Shining telekinetically pushed the boat east-ward, and it gently sailed into the horizon with their sorrow. All that remained now was their vengeance and Chrysalis will be put at the business end of it.