Fallout Equestria: Chumming Waters

Fallout Equestria: Chumming Waters

Chapter 8 - The Long Game

Captain's Log, Year 194, Summer.

We discovered the ship Iron Chains adrift early in the morning. It is unknown what exactly had happened to it’s crew, but the only survivors, three fillies, claim that it was a plague. The only bodies that were found were all locked away in the brig, twisted in posses that told my crew that their deaths were painful and slow. Two of the fillies looked to be slaves, but neither of them have said a word despite them still having tongues. The third, a Victoria Rosary, claims to be the daughter of Captain Rosary. She is well spoken, and has a grace to her that is rare to see among the ponies of the fleet. I’ve taken her into my home for the time being, and maybe she will rub off on my son.

Captain Blackpowder Blast, of the city ship Blackwater.

With the captain and her guards dead, the rooms became a free for all for looting. Taking back my cutlass from Blackpowder’s chest, I used the bedsheets to clean off the blood, making the sheet the first thing I claimed. The nights can get cold, so it would help in keeping me warm. In truth, I wanted the whole bed, but as things were going, I'd have to share it.

"For such an uptight mare, Blackpowder did have an good scene o' accessories." Spring Box had jumped at the chance at getting first dibs on the captains bedroom, to bad a limp was slowing her down. Levitating a necklace over herself, it clashed with the bloody bandage that currently covered her. "What do you think Trip?"

Trip Boom was in much the same shape as Spring Box, though without the limp. "I think you should wash t' blood off o' you first." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Hay kid, I think I found somethin' you might like!"

I wrapped the bedsheets around me, making a crude dress. Trip Boom was at Blackpowders desk, rummaging through a bunch of paperwork. "What is it?" He opened a folded piece of paper, the being wider than the desk, and full of dots and lines.

"From it's label, it's calls a star chart. Seein' that's also your name, might as well say it's already yours." He rummaged through the drawer and pulled out a few more items. "Ehh, you might as well take whatever else be in here. Just don't go askin' me how t' use any o' it." Trip Boom stepped away from the desk, refocusing on the rum cabinet.

In the drawer was a few pieces of paper, a book that didn't look like scripture, and some sort of contraption. Picking up the book, I flipped through the pages, and inside was a hole lot of notes and sketches. From the first page, the book looked like it belonged to a navigator known as Dead Reckoning. The page after that was a sort instruction of how to read a star chart, and use a sextant. Looking at the metal contraption, I guessed that it was the Sextant. Taking a quick look at the other pieces of paper, they turned out to all be a maps. One of the maps had Equestria.

I remember Prism Paint said she was from Equestria, so if I gave her this map, it would help her find her way home.

"RAIDING TIMES OVER, TIME TO EAT!" Shouted a brigadier, too much cheer.

Trip Boom trotted by, dropping my saddlebag next to me. "Almost forgot t' give you this, and don't worry, no pony took anythin' from it." His stomach grumbled, and he trotted off out of the room.

Spring Box stopped before leaving the room. "Oh Star Charter, Ahoy!, if you want me t' teach you a few tricks, come see me tonight. Trust me, it be fun." She winked and stepped out of the room. That made me cheeks flush.

Looking at all the star charting gear, it all felt odd to me. Taking a deep breath, I shoved it all into my bag, and stepped out of the room. The gang was already clearing out, of the area, the bodies of the guards all stacked on top of each other, and anything that was not bolted down had been thrown in one of many piles. Waiting for a little longer, the area quickly emptied of all other ponies, and I walked to the hole in the wall.

"Prism Paint be you thar?" I waited there, the wind blowing through my mane.

We are not happy that you only got yourself in more danger. But we had to remind ourselves that that you're not... never mind, are you okay?

I smiled. "Better than okay! We did it, no more captain, or her guards. With Victoria in charge, life's goin' t' get better, I know it."

I felt Prism's magic wrap around me, and lift me up. That's good to hear, but can we talk elsewhere, there is more death here then we care for. I nodded, and I felt the softness of her back under me. Invisible, we flew away from the room, and up higher.

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Prism took me to the roof of the tower, were the only noise was that of the cold wind. After all the fighting and excitement, it felt strange for everything to be so peaceful. I couldn't help but feel nervous about it.

"Are you okay Star?" Prism's soft voice cut through the sound of the cold wind. She became visible once more, her large blue body still had that regale feel to it.

Jumping off of her, I took off my saddle bag. "I think so, I think I'm just feelin' sleepy." opening up the saddle bag, I located the maps. "I did a lot o' stuff today."

Nodding, Prism Paint stepped closer to me. "That you did. We were so very worried after we had separated. We tried to find you after that, but you never arrived in... Hull Town. After the fighting picked up, We guessed that you were with the main group."

"Aye!" pulling out one of the maps, but it caught the wind and blew out of my hooves. Luckily Prism Paint caught it with her magic. "You said that you came from Equestria, well I found some maps. One o' them had Equestria on it, so maybe you can use it t' find your way home. You did save me, twice, so I think this be t' least I can do."

She pulled out a few other maps, opening them, looking them over. Prism sighed. "Thank you, but..." she looked away. "But without knowing where we are, and which direction we are heading, we are still just as lost."

I dove back into my bag, pulling out Dead Reckonings book. "Maybe it's in here. Take a look!" Placing the maps back into my bag, Prism levitated the book up to herself. Flipped through the pages of the book, she looked intelligent and capable, but the odd thing was that she had the book upside down. "Umm... you have t' book upside down."

Prism sighed, and placed the book back into my hooves. "Sorry, but it's a bit embarrassing to say this... We don't know how to read. We've only ever had picture books, with rainbows on it."

"But everypony knows how t' read, we read t' good book every day. Don't you?"

Prism shook her head. "There's not many books left in Equestria, well ones not burnt and rotted." She flared her wings and smiled at me. "Say, maybe you can read for us. If you have time."I looked over at the edge of the tower. Every pony was probably digging into the food by now. My stomach grumbled at the thought. "If you’re hungry, we still have the food we took earlier." She levitated a pineapple from her bag. I thought about it for a moment, and decided that this will do. "Thanks, we'll cut this up for you."

The pineapple tasted better then I remembered. I think it was because she was feeding me small slices as I read out loud. Prism was also shielding me from the wind, and providing light for me. It felt nice.

Dead Reckoning's writing was a bit hard to read at first, but I quickly got use to it. It was not like that fluid scribbles I often saw unicorns do with their magic, it was more rough, like a pony writing with their mouth. This lead me to believe Dead Reckoning was an earth pony. Along with the writing Dead Reckoning had included, there were a lot of detailed sketches that helped me understand what I was reading.

All the notes about using the sextant was the most detailed thing I ever saw, but also easy to understand. Prism even helped me use the actual sextant that I had in my bag, which helped even more to understand how it worked.

The star chart was simply meant for locating where I was in the world, but was only useful at night when the stars were out. But more I read the book, the more I understood how complicated it can be, and how to use it with the sextant.

Last among the notes was about using the maps, and how they worked with the star chart. If I combine the three, I may not be able to locate exactly where I was, but I could get close. Truth be told, I actually wanted to try it out when the stars are out.

I found myself yawning near the end, "Did you get t' rest of..." Yawned again. "That Prism."

She giggled. "Sorry, but you actually stopped reading out loud some time ago."

"What! Why didn't you tell me? Now I'm goin' t' have t' read it t' you again!"

She diverted her gaze. "Well, you looked so engrossed in it, we didn't want to bother you."

Really, she was the one who needed to know how to get home. "That's stu..." Yawn "stupid."

She used her wing to pull me closer, which drew my attention to the sky. It was night now, I had read the book until day had turned to night. Using her magic, she took the book and placed it back into my bag. "Why don't you get some sleep, and you can finish in the morning."

I wanted to protest, but she was so warm, and I was just too damn tired. It didn't help that she started to sing.

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to lay your sleepy head

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to go to bed.

Drifting off to sleep

Leave the day behind you

Drifting off to sleep

Let the joy of dreamland find you.

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I awoke to the feeling of being dragged along the floor.

"LET US GO! LET US GO!" It was Prism Paint, shouting in a panic. Getting up, I saw her covered in a net, and three lassos around her neck. The lassos were being held by a pegasus each, one of which was Carving Doll. The net held her wings in place, and whenever she tried to flap, her wings only became more tangled. Prism even tried to turn invisible, but the net outlined her perfectly.

Looking behind me, I saw Puppet strings with my tail in her magic. "What's goin' on, Puppet?"

She ruffled my main. "Thanks t' you, we now have somethin' t' give t' t' fleet. By capturin' this false idol, we can become untouchable to t' fleet. Were no longer some rag tag gang, we've become holy crusaders!" Puppet Strings held a hoof over her mouth as she giggled.

I looked back to Prism Paint, my heart pounding. She was looking back at me, no longer fighting back. Don't blame yourself, we should have seen this coming. I looked around to see if any pony had heard her, but it looked like no pony did. Don't do anything rash Star, we wish to not see you get hurt anymore. I held myself back. I wanted to say something, do something, but more I looked around, the more Corps Brigade I saw. They had captured her... no, we had captured Prism Paint.

"Tie t' demon up every pony!" Called Carving Doll, her voice having humored tone to it. The three pegasi dove in, and began wrapping up Prism in the rope. Mostly to keep her wings down.

when they were done, everything was silent, even the wind had stopped. The only sound I could here was the sound of hooves on steel, which was coming up the stairs. Victoria came into view, and behind her was the members of the Followers of Thorn. "THAT'S THE DEMON! THAT'S THE ONE I SAW!" it was the sister that Prism had frightened so hard that she had pissed herself, and she had the biggest grin on her face.

"Now that we have captured the demon for you, can you guarantee the safety of my people?" Victoria was talking to one of the more important looking sisters, who's jaw looked like it was ready to unhinge, and hit the floor.

The important looking sister pushed her jaw back into her mouth. "Guarantee, aye, o' course." The sister slowly trotted closer to Prism, and reached out to touch her with a hoof. "A real livin' breathin' demon. Never did I think I would see one in me own lifetime." The sister took a step back. "EVERY PONY, LET'S MOVE THIS MONSTROSITY TO THE CHAPEL." The other follower took hold of the ropes, or held their guns at the ready, and lead Prism away.

Puppet Strings opened my bag, and pulled out some device with some sensor talismans attached to it. "It was good thin' we put this into your bag, or we might not have found out were t' demon had taken you. Can't have some monster flyin' off with our newest little sister, now can we." I looked at the devices, and looked back to Prism.

I sat there frozen as Prism was lead down into the tower, and out of sight. Dumbstruck, I felt Vitoria hug me. "I knew you could do it, I knew it. When that sister came looking for me, I knew we had our chance. Thanks to you, we now truly own this ship. No, why just this ship." She started laughing. "Our destiny is much grander than just one ship." She let go of me, and I could feel magic lifting me up to my feet. "Come now, I have the cooks making us the biggest breakfast. I hope you like pineapples." She walked of, and I followed.

We had everything we wanted, I had everything I wanted. But why did my chest hurt so much?

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Quest Start: Hard Choices.