Sea

The storm came quickly and without mercy. Twilight barely had time to get up and stow most of the boxes below deck before her boat was tossed about by wind and wave. A torrent of rain suddenly started, drenching everything on deck, and a rising gale blew to the west. In the distance, thunder struck the water. She ran to the stern of the boat, quickly gripping the tiller with her hooves and trying to keep the boat steady with the waves.

Spray washed over the deck, drenching her further. The boat rose on the wave, and then the bow poked over the edge. The boat slid down the other side of the wave, hitting the water with a mighty splash. The hull shook and groaned with the impact. Through a cloud of spray, Twilight grit her teeth. She took the small repose offered by the trough to put out the sail as much as she could, running back to the tiller just as the boat began to rise once more. The sail pulled hard in the wind; the boat gained such speed that it leapt into the air for a brief moment as it peaked the wave. It slammed back into the water on the way down with a massive thud and a cloud of spray.

Twilight was thrown to the floor by the impact. She barely got to her hooves when the boat started pitching onto another wave. She fell towards the stern and grabbed the tiller, desperately trying to keep the boat pointed into the wave. The rudder was turned as far as it would go, but the boat was still at quite an angle when it hit the crest of the wave. The dhow leapt this time, flying a good twenty feet forwards before slamming into the front of another wave. Twilight lost her grip on the tiller and was thrown into the water, breathless. She quickly rose to the surface and looked around for a moment, before ducking down under the water to avoid the boat as it rushed past. She tried to grab the boat, and managed a tenuous grip on the rudder.

Try as she might, she couldn't quite hoist herself over the stern of the boat. She was, however, able to grab the stern above the deck, and hang on fairly well to it, if a bit uncomfortably. Her rear hooves were able to move the rudder, albeit with some effort, and she could almost see over the back of the boat. It was like this that she was caught unawares by the massive drop ahead. The water had been rising with some speed for almost a minute; and now, a drop almost a hundred feet lay ahead. Her eyes went wide as she felt the boat fly over the edge - dragging her with it.

At last she was able to quickly hoist herself into the boat as it made its way down, although that wasn't much comfort to her. She gripped the tiller tightly, more for support than being able to control whatever landing would come. She braced herself for the boat to land, closing her eyes tightly and wrapping her body around the rudder. She waited five seconds... ten seconds.... After fifteen seconds, she opened her eyes, looking around  - only to feel a massive jolt and hear a loud crunch. Her head knocked against the deck, and everything went black.