Potion Mare

Melody was met with the gaze of one of the most beautiful mares she had ever laid eyes upon when she spun around. Lily pulled back her hoof as Melody spun to stare at her. Lily's eyebrows went up as Melody's face flushed red, Lily grinning and rolling her eyes.

"Hey. I'm your new roommate, as well as the head cook. Steel requested I show you the ropes, so... let's do that, kay'?" Lily insisted as she grabbed Melody's robe sleeve, tugging her along the deck. Melody gave a surprised and hurried shake of her head, shaking her hoof free and trotting up next to Lily. Melody sighed and turned to face Lily as they walked.

"So, what's your name?" Melody asked as they walked along next to each other. Lily spoke without looking next to her, instead glancing around the ship and waving at ship members.

"It's Lily. Lily Pearl. Now, let's get to the nitty gritty." Lily said, pushing open a door and trotting down into the wooden depths of the gargantuan ship. Melody and Lily passed a couple of doors in a long hallway, large enough for the two to both fit comfortably inside of. Finally, Lily pushed one of the doors open and welcomed Melody inside behind her, letting it swing closed. "Alright, this is my kitchen." Lily informed Melody, giving a proud grin at how well it was maintained.

"Wow... this is pretty good for a ship." Melody spoke, proceeding to do a slow three-sixty to cover everything she could see. Along one wall was a bed laid sideways, as small bedside table directly next to it as well. On the small table was a brass candle holder. The walls in a whole were painted white, contrary to the rest of the ship, which remained its wooden color. On the wall in front of Melody was a stove top, as well as an ice chest on the floor next to it. In the far corner of the room was a gas tank, with a pipe that led to the stove. Behind her, above the door, was a row of cabinets attached to the ceiling.
"Yeah, I know. It's nothing from in-land with their fancy magical batteries or anything, but it's pretty nice for what we have. You'll be helping me make mostly fish stew, but sometimes I get lucky and the crew catches a lobster or two I can watch them fight over. You'll work the stove when I get bored or tired. We'll share that bed in the corner, because it's all Ms. Steel Gear can afford, apparently." Lily growled, punctuating the sentence by hopping on to the cot. "Any questions? We should be on to the island by tomorrow if I'm to believe that these new fancy-smancy magical generators work like they should. I think that's your job too, but Steel will have to show you those. Now get lost, I wanna get a nap in." She said, giving Melody a wave of dismissal and curling up on the cot.

Melody took her leave, closing the door behind her and trotting up on to the deck of the ship. She trotted around among the ponies on board. They were sitting around small tables, playing cards, chatting, or generally just being around each other. There were around sixty members on board, each partaking in a task. There seemed to be a small group at the far end of the deck in a circle, two ponies in the middle brawling it out as the crowd chanted. Melody eventually made her way up to the captain's wheel. She tapped Steel on the shoulder, not wanting to distract her from her current activity. Steel continued to steer, glancing at Melody from the corner of her eye.

"Hey, Melody. I picked up some of these magical things from the market, apparently they'll get us to the island by tomorrow. I need you to go down and rig them. I left them in my office, right next to the map on my desk. How was Lily? You make any moves on her? If I recall correctly, you two seemed attached to each other right after the first night. Good luck with that, it's obviously the real reason you came back here." Steel said, winking and bringing her full attention back to the wheel.

"Oh, generators? Interesting, Lily mentioned them to me. Perhaps this will change things a lot since last time. I'll go set those up. Lily introduced me to the kitchen then essentially told me to buzz off, so I guess everything is right on track." Melody replied, leaning against the railing behind Steel.

"Hmm, fair point! How's Card Trick? Did she survive the raid all those years ag--" Steel started to say, Melody cutting her off.

"She's fine. Card is fine. Let's not talk about Card, I don't want to talk about Card." Melody frowned, beginning to trot off. "I'm going down to set up the generators. Thanks for the help." She sighed as her heavy hoof-steps disappeared down the stairs, leaving Steel confused and uncomfortable.

Melody trotted down the stairs into the hallway Lily had shown her, peeking into Lily's room. She grinned softly as the mare slept, pulling her head back and closing the door as she continued down the hallway. After a bit of walking Melody arrived at a door slightly larger than the others, with a lable that read, "Captain" above the door. Melody stepped in, raising an eyebrow at the decor.

The room was much larger than the others Melody had seen, and it was painted a darker brown than the rest of the ship. Maps covered most of the far left wall. The desk in the middle of the room was also covered in maps, with an ink bottle and quill laying next to them. There were two large, blue magical cartridges placed right next to them, stacked on top of each other with a note. Along the back wall, above a queen sized bed, was a painting of Steel standing in front of the ship. Melody trotted right up to the batteries, grabbing the note and laying it out to read it.

"Dear Melody,

The store mare told me that these take one charge to activate, and should last us a month. I paid a fortune for these, so I hope you have a focus on you. Attach them to the rudders down in the bottom of the ship, using the spool of twine in the corner to tie them off to each oar. I'm sure the stallions down there will be glad to be relieved of their positions.

Love, Steel Gear."

Melody grinned, always loving a chance to flex her magical prowess, her wings stretching as she prepared herself. She tucked the note as well as the batteries into her coat, trotting out of the room and up the stairs, quite a pep in her step. She made her way to the end of the deck, avoiding another alcohol fueled brawl as she trotted down another flight of stairs. It took her around a minute to make it all the way down, Melody grinning as she finally entered the room she was looking for. It was a wide expanse, with the beginnings of oars jutting out from along the wall in four separate places. She smiled, setting the batteries down as multiple ponies turned to give her an annoyed look. She grabbed the spool of twine that Steel had left her groaning as she began the tiring task of wrapping the lines around each oar.

Melody sighed, the work stallions standing back from the oars as Melody concentrated hard, growling as she pulled her wand from her robe. She extended it toward the batteries, turning her head to the side and gritting her teeth, shutting her eyes tight, and-- a shot of blue lightning fired from the end of her wand, striking the battery. It glowed blue, crackling as it shared its electricity with the one next to it. They both began to glow blue as the oars started to turn by themselves, at a much faster speed as well. The crowd around Melody hooted and shouted for her success, lifting her on to them and carrying her up the stairs, Melody shouting happily as well as she let herself be carried up to the deck. She spotted Lily in the crowd, who gave her a wink, making Melody's face burn red. The rest of the night was a long celebration of her success.

By the time it was over, Melody was standing alone in front of the mirror in Steel's room. She slowly slipped the amulet out of her robe, slipping it around her neck, watching the gem begin to glow red in the dark room.

"Hello there, Melody. Nice to see you've come back to me after all this time. Have you brought me a new victim? Maybe you're one yourself?" A deep, distorted voice boomed in Melody's head. It was loud, dark, and evil.

"No, you fucker. I've come to finish you off, and this time, I AM finishing the job." She growled, staring at herself in the reflection.

"Oh, I'm very sure. I'm in here, and YOU'RE in there. Even if you tossed me away, you know I'd find my way back. Why don't you just feed me a new victim? Don't you want to bring that pretty mare you couldn't save back? What was her name, Lily? I could bring her back to you, if you just give me the power to..." The voice tempted, a hint of persuasion tinting it.

"No. You might think you're safe in there, but not for long. I'm going to fucking end you, and that will be the end of this. I'm training up my magic. Once I can figure out how to get in there, it will be over. I'm not feeding you Lily again, I'm not giving you ANYONE's souls. Maybe you'll fucking starve, huh?" Melody spat, growling at herself.

"Ha! You think I'll starve? Really? I've gone this long without, I just want a body to possess... Don't you want to see Golden again? Or maybe Violet? How about Lily? Is Card Trick still around? If not, I could always being her back.. wouldn't you want to see your--" The voice stopped as Melody screamed out at it, wishing she could block it out.

"DON'T BRING UP HER NAME!! I'M NOT GETTING HER INVOLVED IN THIS!!!" She shouted, growling and stomping her hooves. "I'm going to find a way to kill you, and I'm going to do it. I thought you deserved a fair warning. Your days are fucking NUMBERED, okay?" Melody said in a shallow voice.

"If you're so sure of that." The voice replied, this time booming from Melody's mouth. She gave a horrified gasp, tugging off the amulet and tossing it to the ground, panting for a couple of seconds. She snarled, picking it up once more and tucking it into her robe. She shook her head, trotting out of the room and up the stairs towards Lily's room.

Melody entered and sighed with relief as she found Lily still asleep and in bed. Melody crawled in, careful not to disturb her as she bent against the wall, back facing Lily as her muzzle pressed against the cold wood, wishing it could mesh with Lily's warm lips.

"Soon enough," She thought, "Soon enough."