Chapters A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 1: Hiking To A Tropical Jungle
Chirping of birds and a bright light shining through the slightly closed curtains were all it took to wake Elias from his comfy and warm slumber. After reaching his families cabin in the mountains, he had unpacked everything and had settled down for a nap. Judging from his clock, it was 9:03am. With a groan and creak, the couch he was laying on made itself known as he stood, it's aged springs returning to their original position, albeit begrudgingly.
He stretched and stifled a yawn before he made his way to the kitchen to microwave a breakfast burrito before preparing for the hike he had packed for. He got a bit of a head start as his food cooked and made sure his hiking pack had all the necessities he'd need for the morning and afternoon. Satisfied and hearing the loud beeping of the microwave, he smiled and sat down to enjoy his radiation warmed food tube.
As he chewed and looked out the kitchen window, he watched birds fly by and a few squirrels chatter at him before they went along their way. This area of the mountains had always been his favorite spot when him and his family would go on vacation. Now however it was just him. He didn't have any other family left, which was why he had made the trip in the first place. He had come here to spread his mom's ashes in the same place they had done for his dad and brother. While his reason for being here was somewhat sad, it was still an incredible and beautiful area and was more than worth the effort of driving to.
With his food finished, he slid on his hiking boots and threw a few bags of trail mix in with his gear before throwing it over his shoulders. With a satisfied smile, he grabbed his hiking poles and stepped out the door. He took a deep breath of the cool mountain air as he locked the cabin and made his way to the summit trail. He could see the sun rising higher to his right and stood to watch for a bit before making his way ahead.
The walk to the summit of this particular mountaintop wasn't necessarily a long one, but it still took a few hours to get there and a few hours to get back. As he went, he kept an eye out for the old family trail markers that he and his brother had set up so many years ago. After a while he reached their self labeled halfway point. It was marked with a solitary sign that stated Pearsons Peak, Halfway Point , under it was a few doodles that we had added for fun.
He took a seat and decided to relax for a minute, setting the urn he carried to the side, he pulled out some trail mix and began munching. Overall he wasn't too tired but for some reason he was starting to feel heavier. Strangely so as it continued to increase to the point of making him very uncomfortable. With a startled yelp he was yanked back and before he could grab anything, he fell. He watched helplessly as he tumbled away from the urn that remained sitting where he had placed it.
He fell into what seemed to be a hole, blackness surrounding him before he slammed into a hard surface, causing him to black out.
* * *
When Elias was able to open his eye's again, he found himself staring up at the canopy of some very tall tropical tree's. He simply laid there and stared at it, trying to comprehend what had happened and why he was currently staring at tree's that should not be on a mountain. It wasn't until he heard the seagulls that he bolted to an upright sitting position and looked through a gap in the tree's.
There in front of him was nothing but ocean, the wave's rolling in pleasantly despite his now rising panic. A quiet "What the fuck?" was muttered as he stumbled through the sand, sinking to his knee's near the water's edge. As confusing as this was, it definitely didn't upset him. It certainly had spooked him when he fell, but life had started to lose meaning to him anyway. He had done a lot before hitting the age of 28. More than most people could say. So the fact that something new, and completely unprecedented had happened to him, it drove him into a near mania with excitement.
His mom would have to deal with staying where he had left her, as he was sure that due to the elevation he was at, he was either in a different part of the world, or a different world altogether. Both prospects held his curiosity for a bit as he daydreamed while staring out at the ocean. He had watched a lot of videos back home of survival and how to manage it no matter the climate. While the information helped immensely, it wouldn't be of any use until he started to use it.
The first thing he knew that he needed to do was find a source of water. He wouldn't have to check the ocean as the smell of salt waft from it's waves in abundance. Standing back up, he looked up and down the beach he was on. Often times one could find bits of driftwood and other miscellaneous things washed up ashore. However what he was looking for was his hiking pack. It had definitely fallen with him and it had some food and gear that would help greatly in his situation. As he couldn't see it here, he turned back the way he came and followed his footprints in the sand and entered the jungle.
There appeared to be a large circle of trees that were simply missing from this patch of jungle. In it's place was the burnt outline of himself. There to the right of it sat his pack, a charred ring around it as well. He let out a happy sigh that it was unharmed. It was rather small as far as hiking bags went, and it only held a blanket, some snacks, a few bottles of water, his knife with flint, a small hatchet, some five-fifty cord, extra socks and some gloves. As far as survival equipment, though lackluster, it was more than most people would think to have.
He pulled out a small handfull of trail mix and ate in peaceful silence. The sounds of the ocean and the jungle mingled in this little circle of his and left him in an even more pleasant mood as he put away his snack. It wouldn't do for him to eat all of it now as he would need it until he found a source of food. He slung his bag over his shoulders and turned towards the deeper part of the jungle. He gripped his hatchet in one hand and his knife in the other, and as he stepped through the foliage, he marked a few of the tree's. He wanted to ensure that, should he need to, he'd be able to find his way back to the briny blue.
The plant life here so far looked as Elias expected it to. It was green, lush and as the sun rose, the jungle left him sweaty and damp. he had taken off a good bit of clothing after he had begun his trek. Heat exhaustion would be a fast way of getting himself killed in this kind of situation. Currently he was holding and sipping from one of the water bottles, this he relegated to a sip ever hour or so. Whenever he had sunlight shining through the thick canopy, he made use of it by clearing away the leaves, bark and other plant debris from the forest floor and using his knife to make a makeshift sundial. This was a pretty reliable method for telling time as he walked.
It wasn't until about six hours later that he started to hear the sound of trickling. He strained his hearing as he tried to get closer to what he now believed could be a source of water. As it got louder, so to did his excitement rise. Nothing was ever this easy back home and he knew it. This still didn't stop him from hoping that what he had come upon was of freshwater origin. When he exited the dense jungle and into the slight open area, he gasped. A somewhat small river gushed between the trees. Carefully, Elias made his way to the water's edge and knelt down. He dipped his empty hand into the water after placing his knife on his belt.
With a frown he spat out the salty water. It was a river all right, but it was a river that flowed in from the ocean. Disappointed he stood up and looked towards where current was flowing. Curious about what could lay ahead, he followed it. As he went, he spotted a few birds in the trees, and some wildlife that moved a little too fast for him to get a good glimpse of. At the moment he was sure that there were some form of ground dwelling birds here that kept running from him as he approached.
He continued to think about them and other things as he followed the meandering waters and before long the sun started to dip below the horizon. With yet another frown, he stopped for the day and set about looking for dry wood to make a fire. Something this area seemed to have an abundance of in the form of small sticks. So with some determination, Elias set about gathering until he had a large bundle of it in his arms.
He made two more trips before he was satisfied with the amount of wood he had. Carefully he made a smaller pile of light tinder that he could spark with his knife and flint. If it hadn't been for having learned this years ago, he probably would have sat here for a while, frustratingly staring at an unlit fire. But Elias was experienced in starting his own fire's, and soon his tinder was glowing. With a few light breath's he had a flame started that he placed on a pile of sticks he had arranged.
Comfortably, he sat there and placed a few more sticks on the flame as it caught, expanding the flames to the rest of the bundle underneath it and warming him as the sun got lower. He quietly stared into his fire, stoking it and munching on some trail mix peanuts before wrapping himself in the blanket and laying on his bag for a pillow. With a sigh, he closed his eye's and allowed himself to drift off to sleep with the sounds of the jungle acting as white noise.
When he woke up the next morning, his fire had gone out and was now just a pile of white ash. It was a little foggy and cool this morning, so as he got up, he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, and set about starting a small fire. He'd need it for what he had planned and once he had it going, he grabbed a very tight rolled bundle of brush, leaves and sticks that he had made and bundled together with some of the five fifty cord.
He carefully light one end of it until it was smoldering well. It didn't need to be fully on fire now for him to be able to start a new fire at whatever new spot he would find. Satisfied with his bundled cigar, he grabbed his hatchet and knife and continued to follow the river. What he hadn't realized was that as he went, he was being watched and followed. Whoever was following the man managed to stay absolutely silent as they followed him along his path.
The smoke from his fire had drawn what was following and it kept him in it's sights the entire day. It wasn't until he stumbled onto a cave in a raised cliffside that he couldn't see the top of through the canopy, that the strange thing following him made itself known.
"STAY AWAY FROM THERE!" a voice yelled, startling the man. He turned to see who had just yelled at him and looked down at what could only amount to a small technicolor pony. It sat there glaring at him while he stood there staring back.
There was no way it had spoken, had it?
Author's Note
Well, that's the first chapter of what I hope to be a pretty fun story. And for those wondering, It might be quite a few chapters before our Illustrious hero makes anywhere close to off the island. So I hope you bear with me on this because it's an Idea I've wanted to write out for quite a while.
If you have any non spoiler related questions, let me know. Same goes for any spelling or grammar mistakes you guys and gals might find. Please and thank you.
-StormHoof
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 3: Discussions And Trees
The day was muggy and warm and the group of three sat rather cozily around a crystal clear pool of water. This was the watering hole that the two mares had mentioned and as promised it was fresh and clean. Elias took a few swigs of the water after filling an empty bottle and he had to admit that it tasted a whole hell of a lot better than the bottled water, which Midnight had complained had tasted like plastic.
He looked around and took more notice of the grove of trees that the pool sat nestled within. The trees that grew around it were slightly larger than the rest of the jungle around them, and were an off color brown that also didn't match the rest of the lush plant-life. The grass around them was more lush and alive than any grass that Elias had ever laid eyes on. It's blades were thick yet almost soft to the touch as he ran his hand across the top. It almost seemed like the plant life here was feeding on the Nature Magic that filled the pool, and curious to answer this he turned and asked Star who had settled for watching the light of the sun reflect on the pools surface. It's golden light filtering through the canopy above to form what looked like stars in the water.
"Actually your pretty spot on." She replied, "The plants, earth and water here all are saturated in Nature Magic and from what I've been able to tell, They've been sucking up all that magic the entire time they've existed here. Which in the life span of a tree could be anywhere from a hundred to three hundred years depending on the type."
Elias smiled and continued looking around before another question came to mind. "So, since these specific trees are essentially magic trees, is it possible to make anything from the wood and the said Nature Magic could still inhabit it?" he asked. Star raised an eyebrow in thought and looked around at the trees. Quietly she got up and walked over to a tree behind them as it was nearest and looked up at some of the branches. Her wing was still broken so she obviously wouldn't be flying up to reach one. But with Elias and his height, he would easily be able to reach it and break off a piece that they could then study.
Satisfied with her plan, she voiced this to their bipedal friend and he grinned and stood before making his way to her tree. He looked up and she pointed out the low hanging branch that she had her eye on. Elias stared at it for a good minute and then looked at the trunk for just as long before he stepped back and made a run for it. He placed his foot against the trunk and pushed as his momentum carried him forward and launched himself up a little so that he could grab onto the branch.
With a satisfying crack, it broke and Elias fell, Branch clutched in his grip. Once he was down he handed it over to Star and they both sat back down by the waters edge. They continued to relax as Star looked over the tree branch for a bit as Midnight munched on some of the trail mix they had brought. Strangely enough they both noticed as the color of the wood began to dull and match the rest of the trees in the jungle. Elias gave a short "Hmmm" in response as Star checked it for anything else.
Star looked back at the tree that they had broken it from and curiously the stump on the trunk was starting to regrow at an alarming rate. She gasped and turned to Elias, explaining what kind of Nature Magic they were dealing with. In short it was Fertility Nature Magic. She had explained that the magic of the pool had probably caused the jungle on the island and over time as the trees spread, they started losing the Nature Magic due to distance.
The trees immediately near the pool were directly feeding their roots into the pool however, which meant that the trees in this little grotto were protected by it. Elias gave a low whistle and looked around again at what could be very very old trees.
"So if it's Fertility Nature Magic, will it affect you two at all since you're all magical and whatnot?" He asked. Both Mares gawked at him as their faces turned red.
"N-No! It doesn't work like that!" Midnight said, trying get the heat in her face to die down. Star laughed as Elias raised an eyebrow at their antics. He had obviously missed something, and it definitely had to do with his question. He'd puzzle it over later, for now though, he decided to just enjoy the pleasant atmosphere for a while.
* * *
While the other two had decided to head back to the cave, Elias took the time to explore a bit more. He was mainly looking for any wildlife he'd be able to trap, after all he'd need a stable source of protein and he wasn't able to fish at the moment. The day was still rather warm, and little bugs swarmed through the leaves as he made his way on a meandering path. He made sure to break branches as he went so that he could identify the path he had taken and find his way back.
After an hour or so of walking, he came upon a large clearing that led to a cliff overlooking the sea. At the edge of the cliff was a singular large tree that seemed to tower higher than any of the others. It didn't look magical like the grove trees, but it was definitely different. Curious, he took a closer look and placed his hand on the bark. It was slightly cool to the touch despite the warm air, and it began to vibrate on contact.
Once again this didn't phase Elias, If anything it perplexed him further. He circled the tree a few times, trying to figure out what it's deal was. However he only ended up stumped. It would be chalked up to what would become an increasing number of strange occurrences in an equally strange world.
He did later manage to catch a few squirrels using some trail mix for bait. Snares were perfect for catching little creatures like squirrels, birds and rabbits. As the sun started its travel from high noon towards evening, Elias gorged himself on what little meat he could and disposed of the leftover bits in a hole he had dug. He quietly cleaned up his little site and followed his marked path back to the pool, and from the pool back to the cave.
What he didn't expect to find however was the two Mares waiting for him. Midnight was arguing with her sister when he stepped through the trees and they both stopped to look at him. Star smiled and waved him over while Midnight gave her the stink eye.
"Im glad you're back, wouldn't want anything to happen to you." She said before explaining that she had been arguing with her sister about having him sleep in the cave instead. "I figured I'd offer you the chance to get inside somewhere that's at least a roof over your head."
Elias smiled and scratched behind her ears, causing her to stiffen and blush. He stood back up and replied with one short sentence, "I take it Midnight still doesn't trust me?"
Star looked down and nodded. It wasn't her sisters fault, she had always been a little mistrusting of others. It only became more reinforced after recent events and being trapped on an island with a strange creature from another world could easily make somepony a little skittish.
"I'll sleep out here for now, thanks though. I feel that if we're going to be helping each other survive, it would work out better if we're all on good terms." He explained, rolling out his bedding as he did so before continuing. "I don't want to make Midnight uncomfortable, and if having me out here makes her feel a bit safer then I don't mind it."
Midnight looked at him in slight shock. She hadn't expected him to respond in such an unorthodox or nice way. Star too looked a little shocked by the display of kindness from the man, smiling she gave him a hug and thanked him for thinking of her sisters feelings. They said their good nights and laid down to rest. As the sky grew darker, Elias laid back and watched the stars wink into existence one by one.
Since he had come here, he had noticed the nights were more spectacular than any he had seen on earth. It wasn't long until he drifted off to sleep.
* * *
When Elias opened his eyes the next morning, he found himself staring at the upside down face of Star as she looked down at him. He groaned and sat up as she explained what she had planned for the day. Since they had access to coconuts and fresh water, there resources were relatively good. She wanted to go down and comb the beach and look for anything that could be useful. Elias agreed that it was a good idea and cleaned up his bedding before getting ready to follow the mare.
Carefully they made their way and upon exiting the trees a while later, they found golden sands once more. The soft crashing of the waves and the sounds of seagulls gave the area a rather vacation like feel. With a smile, Elias slipped his boots off and placed his socks over them before rolling up his pantlegs and stepping into the water. It was cool but not overly so, and he found it pretty comfortable.
Star watched him as he waded into the water up to his knees. He was a bit taller than she was and could stand where she would have been kicking her hooves to stay afloat. She stood a bit further back and began walking the length of the beach as the water rushed past her. Elias however was looking for something a little different. He searched the shallow waters for something very specific and when it darted in front of him he almost yelped in shock.
There were fish that were coming in from the ocean and then swimming back out again. With a inner yell he grinned and headed towards where Star was currently studying something and when he came up to her side he found her staring at a barrel half buried in the sand. On it's side it said in large bold letters: POTATOES
Elias yelled out, startling the mare and causing her to yelp in turn. He apologized and began furiously and happily digging the barrel out. It was still sealed and had a rather large amount of weight to it. Carefully he took his hatchet and began prying the lid off. When he finally got it open and looked inside, they didn't find potatoes. In fact what they found was quite a shock, as inside the barrel was a splotchy stallion with a red bandana around his neck. He had a brown mane and tail and as fresh air rushed in he began to stir.
Elias and Star looked at each other and back at the stallion who was now looking at them in slight curiosity and glee.
"Um, 'ello, I'm Pipsqueak. Any chance you two could help me?"
Author's Note
Sorry for the lateness of the chapter y'all. Had to start a job search as my current employer as decided to no longer employ me. Fun times. Other than that things are good so I hope you all enjoy the chapter, although they are kind of short, they're fun to write.
P.S., I think I use the word however too much. If anyone can help me with alternatives or synonyms that would work to break up the repetitiveness, it would be most appreciated.
Hope you all are having a good day :)
-StormHoof
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 4: Castaways Creed
Author's Note
This chapter was pretty fun to write. Just so you guys understand a bit the kind of feel I want this story to have. While yes it will have it's serious moments, it will have it's silly, funny, cliche moments too. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope you guys keep up with this little adventure of mine. Also, if you were wondering, a lot of my other stories usually have a lot of dialogue. So for this one I decided to go for a more word heavy explanation sort of approach with a little dialogue thrown in from time to time.
If you guys like how that's going and want more, please let me know. If the you don't like it then please by all means, let me know how I can change or better myself and my writing skills to make it better.
-StormHoof
Chapter 4: Castaways Creed
Elias and Star stared at Pip in bewilderment as he stuggled to get out of the barrel. His large size had caused him to be stuck inside it, which made for quite a hilarious sight. With a chuckle, the pair gripped his two front hooves and pulled him free where he sprawled out in the sand. With a bit of an embarrassed blush, he stood and brushed the sand off himself before saying his thanks.
"I appreciate that. I don't know what you got here, but I'd greatly appreciate you more if you could help me out" he said, brushing more sand from his mane before he continued. "I was on a merchant ship that was beset by pirates. I use to be a big fan of them until they threatened to kill us. Some mates of mine stuffed me in a barrel and said if I should wash ashore anywhere with somepony living there, I should get help and give them the last coordinates we had."
Pip's explanation was a bit of a doozy, and as the two pondered this, Pip reached into the barrel and pulled out a chart, a plotting compass, and what appeared to be an empty sack of potatoes. He grinned sheepishly and stuffed the sack back in before handing Star the charts. She looked at them with a raised eyebrow before hoofing them to Elias.
He had sailed before and had definitely dealt with pirates, though his were Somalian and had guns. Something he was sure that pony pirates didn't have other than cannons. He rolled out the chart and studied it while Star got acquainted with Pip. From what he had noticed thus far, she was good at that kind of thing. She was in human terms, a people person.
When he was looking over the map he managed almost easily to find the island they were on. It was jus shy of where their ship was attacked. The coordinates that were marked where to the east of where they were currently but if the ship was still nearby it should be viewable from there. He notified the other two who nodded and agreed to go back to camp to get Midnight. Elias waited and rolled the chart up, tying it off with it's fastening thong.
When the others returned, they set off as a group towards the eastern beach. When they reached it's curve and were able to view more of the ocean, they found the ship they had been looking for was currently moored at their shores. Elias and the others drew back into the trees and took stock of what was before them. On the beach two ponies were moving crates off the ship while a griffin and pony argued nearby. On the deck of the ship, a few guards patrolled and kept an eye out for anything suspicious.
While Elias would have seen this as serious in any other situation, in this he didn't. It reminded him too much of some of the really cliche scenes for combat in a pirate assassin game from back home. He looked around for anything he could use before remembering his thin hoodie that he had packed away. Glad to have his hiking pack with him, thank to Star and her quick thinking, he pulled out the hoodie and pulled up the hood.
With a bit of trepidation, he explained to the ponies around him what he planned to do, and that to that end he would be taking lives. This however was met with an eyebrow raise from each of them. They then sat there and had to explain that as far as the laws of Equestria were concerned, pirates weren't deserving of normal pony rights. It was highly advised that they be sunk on sight and captured pirates were to be executed.
Elias glanced at the three of them, and thought about what they had said. For a race of ponies that according to Star praised Peace and Harmony, they seemed rather blasé about killing pirates. Either way, what he was planning wouldn't upset them and that made this a bit easier for him to do. He grabbed his knife and hatchet and slipped them into his belt before nodding to the others and making his way from the trees into what Elias could only say were conveniently placed bushes.
He fought valiantly to suppress his laughter at the absurdity of how things seemed to work in this world. As quietly as he could, he crouched and moved from brush to brush, watching the pirates as he did. He moved specifically when he knew they wouldn't be looking and his attempts at stealth would have made Big Boss himself proud. Wearing a bright pink hoodie he moved into sparse growing grass and grabbed the nearest pony.
As quietly as he could he drove his knife into the stallions chest and covered his mouth with his other hand, dragging him into the brush with himself. Nopony noticed this and continued about as though nothing was wrong. With yet another suppressed giggle, Elias moved to a closer bush and did this three more times, systematically eliminating the pirates that had been working on the beach.
When he had taken out the last one, a guard on deck finally noticed that nothing was happening on the beach anymore. He looked down curiously, scanned the area and then shrugged before continuing back on his patrol path. Elias nearly facepalmed at this blatant display of disregard and figured much more couldn't be done other than rolling with it. Plus it was enjoyable to a point, on one hand he got to essentially relive a game for real. But on the other hand, he was in fact killing pastel colored ponies.
Granted these ponies and by extension griffins were also killing ponies and causing chaos, so it wasn't too bad in his eyes. If he had the chance to fight back against the Somalian pirates that had kept his family hostage on a cruise, it would have been nice. Shaking his head of his thoughts, he made his way to the plank that led from the open hull of the ship as it bobbed in the water. Quietly and while crouching for added stealth effect, he crept up and into the ship. He stayed close to cargo crates and watched for guards.
He counted three that were patrolling below decks and carefully he made his way to the one on his left. He waited for the mare to pass by him before he crept up behind her and placed a hand over her mouth before finding his knife a nice and comfy home in her chest. She kicked for a second before going still and he pulled her outside the ship and over the trees. He turned from her and looked at the rest of the bodies and moved them all to the trees as well. Just because his new friends could see what he was doing and understood, didn't mean they would want to see dead bodies.
With that done he went back into the ship and dispatched one of the other guards in a similar fashion. The last however was one he had an idea for. Up above his patrol path was a large wooden support beam and a platform that reached over to where he was hidden. He climbed up some cargo crates while the guard wasn't looking and pulled up onto the platform and looked around. What he found was a little surprising, In a few cages just ahead of him were two ponies who were chained up.
One was a white unicorn stallion with a firey orange mane and a cutie mark depicting a frying pan with an egg. The other was a pegasus mare with a bright yellow coat and a brown and tan two tone mane. Her cutie mark was a piece of wood with a hammer and nails, and she was shaking in the stallions hooves. As quietly as he could he, Elias crept up to the cage and got their attention. While they were a bit startled, they stayed quiet at his behest and he whispered that he would need to take care of the other guard before coming back for them.
They nodded in understanding and he crept a bit further, placing himself just above the guard as he walked around some crates that had been tied down with rope. Elias waited for just the right moment before jumping down and landing on the stallion with a satisfying thump. As he did so, he drove his knife into the guards neck. He immediately went limp and Elias carefully placed him with the others before going back to the two in the cage.
He took his hatchet and flipped it around and used it to smash the rusting lock. It cracked open and the cage door swung free with a loud creak. He winced and hurried them out quickly, leading them to the others as those up on deck discovered the that many of their own were now missing. With more shouts of alarm, the plank was pulled in and the ship set sail. Elias was breathing a little hard while Star got to taking a look at the two that he had rescued.
When she was satisfied that they weren't injured and were only going through a mild shock, they got their names. Gourmet Gruel was the ships cook before the mutiny and had been shoved in a cage when he had disputed the decision of transporting slaves. The mare was Free Feather, she was a shipbuilder that had been signed onto the ship for any repairs it would need during it's voyage. She was from the ship that Pip had been on and as far as she knew, her and Pip were the only survivors.
Pip looked down sadly at that, but when discussions were done and their two new guests were fed, they headed to the cave and Elias began setting up his bedding. When the others asked about this, Star explained it to them and they nodded, understanding the situation better than he would have thought. Once they were safe inside, he took his place and laid down to close his eyes. Soon he was off to sleep and dreams of games he had played as a kid.
Inside the cave however, the ponies were talking about events that had been happening recently and anything they had heard from the mainland. Apparently Princess Twilight had finally taken the throne and the two princesses had retired. Rumor was that they were planning on taking a sailing ship through the South Equestrian Seas and that it would be expected to be dangerous due to the high volume of pirates in the area.
What they also discovered was that Free Feather had a knack for feeling out special wood that could be used for ships. She explained to them that she knew as soon as they came close to the island that there is a tree here that would make the strongest ship she had ever built. The only problem would be finding iron on the island that they could use for nails. To this, Gourmet Gruel stated that he hadn't always been a cook, and that he had served some time in the Equestrian Military as a mine detector due to his unicorn magic. While some of the spells he knew were directly tailored to detecting mines, one was for detecting metal in general.
It would be useful, but it did have it's drawbacks. It couldn't tell him what kind of metal it was, only that either something metal was there, or that an ore vein was there. Star continued their conversation well into the night as they came up with a plan. She would let Elias know in the morning and she was sure that he would help. Midnight however sat slightly away from the group and looked out towards Elias.
She gave a sad sigh and laid her head down, closing her eyes as she allowed her thoughts to order themselves. She hadn't been fair to him lately, and she knew that she would soon need to rectify that.
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 5: Dark Skies And A Warm Fire
It had been a solid month since Elias had landed on the island. Since then they had turned the cave into quite the comfy living space with the help of Gourmet and Free. Gathering coconuts was easier now that they had a pegasus with full use of her wings, and Gourmet knew a lot of edible plants and herbs that he mixed with the coconuts to make some rather nutritious dishes. While the first few weeks were rough, the group as a whole warmed up to Elias more than enough to allow him shelter in the cave. Something Midnight finally budged on as she stayed in her little corner of their makeshift home.
She watched as everypony went about their daily duties that Elias and Star had helped set up. She'd be helping as well if she hadn't sprained her hoof on a scouting trip with Free, and it didn't help that Elias and Star were constantly worrying about her. She laid there with her head on her front hooves as she watched Elias work in his own separate corner of the cave. He was using his knife to carve something from a piece of a tree branch and after a few hours of work it had started to take shape.
Midnight however couldn't figure out what said shape was until he held it up and checked it over for any mistakes or cracks. It was a makeshift crutch made to fit a ponies height. With a satisfied nod, he got up and made his way over to her before sitting down with his back against the wall. Midnight stared at him impassively as he placed the crutch on the ground for her.
"Made this for you. I know if it was me in your position, I'd want to be able to move around a bit." He explained. She nosed it a few times before pulling it close to herself and thanking him. It was a bit awkward as they both sat there, quietly observing each other. After getting to know Elias a bit better during their time here, he had reminded her a bit of herself and Stars father. He was kind, helpful and worried endlessly about all of them.
"I probably never brought it up, but I'm sorry for how I've been treating you." Midnight said, looking up to make eye contact with the man, "I've always found it hard to trust others, even when Star and I were little. I only ever trusted my family, and for a long time that was how I liked it."
She looked toward the cave entrance where Star and Free had just left to gather more wood. "Star and I have always had each other to lean on, and It's hard trusting and leaning on somepony entirely new." She finished explaining as she looked back to Elias. He was relaxing with his legs crossed in a position that looked rather painful to her. He smiled and scratched behind her ear, something she was enjoying more and more lately.
"I understand. I'm just glad that you're finally warming up to me." He laughed, got back up and held out his hand to help her stand. Once she was up and she had the crutch propped right, he led her to the entrance. "Lets go sit by the fire, you look like you could use some sun."
Midnight stuck her tongue out at him and exited the cave with his help. She wasn't use to using a crutch and was a bit wobbly on her hooves. Carefully, Elias helped her over to their firepit where Star and Free were feeding the fire. Gourmet was currently mixing something in a wooden bowl Elias had helped carve from the coconut shells. Star smiled at the two and came over to sit with her sister as Free went to help Gourmet with getting their breakfast situated.
Two days ago Elias had found some bird eggs that were unprotected and it was a good dozen or so of them. Today was the last day they'd be able to enjoy them and despite it being slightly upsetting it was still a treat that they all wholly enjoyed. Sadly it was the only thing of worth they had found so far on their scouting trips into the jungle. Gourmet had gone with them a few times to look for ore veins, but so far none had been found.
Free had already felled the tree she was looking at for use for their ship and over the past week she had gotten a small portion of it turned into planks and two by fours. They had used the bark for firewood and they would still need some form of nails to build with, but that would come with time. Or at least they had hoped. While the others continued engaging in conversation while they ate, Midnight watched the clouds roll in.
Thick billowing dark clouds were moving pretty fast and were making there way right to them. She turned and brought this to the groups attention and they all started gathering everything and bringing it inside while Elias helped Midnight back to her bedroll. Elias had made them for everypony so that they would be able to retain more body heat instead of it leaking from them into the cold stone floor.
Once everything was inside, Elias closed the door to the cave and made his way back over to Midnight where he sat in what had become his usual spot. He continued scratching behind her ear and looked toward the much thicker and much stronger door that he had made for them as well. It made Midnight feel safer and with a soft sigh she leaned into his hand and allowed herself to close her eyes and rest. As long as a Storm was passing through, they wouldn't be leaving the cave.
* * *
The fire crackled and popped while Elias tended to it. Everypony else had gone off to sleep, leaving Elias on fire guard duty for the night. He used a stick to push and adjust the coals before he placed a few new logs on it, after all a fire was a hungry friend. Once that was done, he sat back and watched the flames lick the air in their flowing and warm dance. For a long time growing up, he had done exactly this. It didn't matter to him if it was in a jungle or a cave, or even a valley deep in the desert. Nothing could beat the comfort and mental safety provided by the humble fire.
His dad showed him a lot of the first things that he had learned about survival and the rest he learned from shows and experience. But what his dad taught him would always remain there like a note from his old man, as if to say 'I love you son, I want you to be safe'. He smiled at that thought and turned as he heard a shuffle to his right. He watched as Midnight rolled over and sat up, blinking at him and the fire.
Quietly she grabbed her crutch and made her way slowly but surely over to the fire. Elias carefully helped her sit down next to him where she could warm up and get comfortable. They stayed like this for a good bit before she spoke up, her right ear listening to the pattering of the rain outside.
"Elias, do you think we'll make it out of here?" she asked. It was something that had been on her mind a lot lately and it was the reason she currently couldn't sleep.
"We will. All of us are going to work together to get off this island. I may not be from this world, but I can't wait to get out there and explore it." Elias replied, his eye's getting a hardened but learned look to them as he gazed off toward a far off horizon only he could see. Midnight rolled her eye's at that and gave him a playful shove with her back left hoof.
It went quiet again as they both enjoyed the sound of the fire, while Elias started to once again scratch her ear. As she laid there enjoying the feeling, she thought on it and wondered why it was that he was constantly scratching behind her ear but nopony else's. Obviously he had done it to her sister before but lately he had only been doing that for her, and in all honesty it made her feel a little more special. She wanted to know though, so she asked Elias why he did it and his reply caught her slightly off guard.
He explained that he didn't really understand it himself other than that for some reason he felt a bit closer to her than he did to anypony else in their group. He explained that she had also reminded him a lot of a woman from his world that he had traveled with for a few years and that he enjoyed rubbing her shoulders. He considered scratching behind her ear to be the equivalent and it was something that left her trying her hardest not to laugh.
She spent the rest of the night talking with Elias as she told him stories from Her and Star's childhood and hearing some rather interesting stories from Elias in return and after a while it was his turn to go to sleep while Gourmet took fire guard. As Elias laid down to rest, Midnight did something a bit more daring that either of them would have expected from her. Quietly she snuggled up to his side and with her head on his chest, she wished him a good sleep before drifting off herself.
Elias watched with a slight stunned expression before chuckling softly and scratching lightly behind her ear again. If it's what made her comfortable he had no qualms against it, and with that done, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
* * *
The third night as the storm started to taper off, Elias sat again watching the fire. Only Midnight was well and truly asleep, so he knew she wouldn't be joining him tonight. Her sister on the other hand had no issues with staying up with him and was currently checking her wing to ensure it had healed properly. Sitting daily in the grotto had done wonders for it and it seemed to be working like new.
She turned to see him watching and stuck her tongue out at him before grabbing the fire poking stick to stir up the fire a bit. Once the flames were good and big and the warmth once again filled the entirety of the cave, she turned to him with a grateful look. She spent who knows how long, telling Elias some of the same stories Midnight had told him. Granted they were from another point of view, but a change no matter how slight can always make a difference.
Hearing some of these events from Star's point of view made Elias realize just how truly shy her sister had once been and just how far she had come with simply being able to fall asleep on him in comfort. Something Star pointed out that she found absolutely adorable. She had found the two of them earlier that morning, Elias with his arm wrapped around her like he was cuddling a stuffed animal.
While it was in fact cute, she did want to thank him properly for being there for them and helping them survive on the island. With that in mind she leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to stiffen and blush only briefly before he got himself back under control.
"You know you should warn someone before you do that. It's common courtesy." He said, scratching his chin. His facial hair had grown a bit since being here and he was now sporting what he could call a respectable beard.
"Maybe where you come from, but here surprises are always better. Plus what fun is there in it if I can't mess with you once in a while." Star replied with a wink before she got up and made her way to the entrance to look out through the door.
"The storm is almost gone, do you think anything will wash ashore?" she asked.
Elias sat and thought about it before joining her at the entrance to look toward the beach. Back home, storms often caused all kinds of things to drift ashore, sometimes even pieces of ships that had been sunk. If it worked the same here, it could be a huge boon and could easily provide them with some of the things they very sorely needed.
"Well, we'll just have to wait and see." He replied, closing the door and leading her back to the fire where they once again got comfortable. Tomorrow was another day, but would it be any different than all the rest so far? Elias hoped so, and with that hope came the hope of leaving the island.
After all, it was a big wide new world out there for him to explore, and he wanted to see every bit of it.
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 6: A Day At The Beach
Elias sat on the beach, resting his feet for a bit as he watched the others retrieve bits of wood and nails from the beach. The storm that had blown through had dashed some poor ship against rocks somewhere, as all that washed ashore now were the pieces of it. Bit's of rope and broken barrels as well as torn sails and pieces of broken glass were strewn about as they were carried in by the waves.
This was an incredible bounty as far as they were concerned and Midnight mentioned as much while she sat next to him, munching on a piece of coconut. Now that she had her crutch, she could move about as she pleased. But lately she felt far more comfortable and far more safe near Elias. She wasn't sure why, but she thought maybe it had to do with the fact that he could keep them safe. Whatever it was, she didn't mind it at all. Whenever she sat with him, he'd start scratching behind her ears and rubbing them. He was doing that now as they watched the wave roll in and out, and he was effectively snapped out of it by Star calling his name.
"Elias! I found something!" she said excitedly as she ran over to him and her sister. On her back was a curved scabbard that still had the sword sheathed within it. Elias raised an eyebrow and plucked it off her back while she stopped to ask Midnight if she needed anything. Elias however was more enamored with the blade in his hands. It was a cutlass that looked as though it had seen it's fair share of battle on the high seas. The scabbard was a bit rusted where the metal fitting were attached, but the blade was spotless and had obviously been given an incredible amount of care.
He gave a low whistle and sheathed it before tying the leather thong attached to it, to his belt so that it would seat right. He turned to the two mares to show off his new weapon. It was hanging now from his left hip just forward of his knife, while his axe remained on his right hip. Star giggled, but Midnight looked him up and down and a slight blush filled her cheeks as she realized just how dashing a single sword happened to make the man. Luckily for her though, it went unnoticed and she was able to compliment him regardless.
As the sun hit its peak in the sky, the other came over and began setting up for lunch on the beach. Or at least Gourmet was trying to. Free was busy down the beach with Pip as they worked on finishing out the rest of the wood planks from what Elias had started calling the Boat Tree. And now that they had a veritable pile of rusty and not so rusty nails, they'd be able to melt them down and make new ones. That was another reason for their trip to the beach today. Gourmet needed some of the junk that drifted ashore if he was going to make any headway on building a furnace that he could belt the iron down in.
Over the last few days, Gourmet had stocked up and saved up every piece of charcoal he could from their campfires. After he would need a lot of it if he wanted to raise the temperature to be hot enough for metal working. He had found a good spot with plenty of clay but he would definitely need to wet it down and it would more than likely need to be water from the pool rather than the ocean. Ocean water contained too high of a salt content and wouldn't allow the clay to bond and stick together easily. Once they had nails, he would convert the furnace into a kiln and use the rest of the clay to start making containers that they could store provisions in.
They wouldn't be good as a standard Equestrian barrel, but they would definitely suffice and nopony on the island wanted to stay there forever. All of this he pondered as he prepared some fish soup using some of the fish Elias had helped him catch earlier. There were six fish roasting over the fire they built and as each one was done, Gourmet would descale them and fillet them using Elias's knife. When all the fish were filleted and ready, he tossed them into a wood bucket covered with clay. It wasn't a perfect cooking pot, but it had done the job relatively well lately. It was already full of fresh water with a little bit of sea water added to salt it.
Gourmet took a carved stirring stick and kept the soup stirring while he added in minced seaweed. It wouldn't be the tastiest fare that Gourmet had made, but it would certainly fill their stomach's and keep up their energy. While the soup cooked, he turned to finishing his carving of wooden bowls. He spent a good portion of their time carving plates and bowls for them to use while they had been stuck in the cave.
As he carved, he listened to the conversation that went on between Elias and the two mares who were now sitting on either side of him. He could see the way Midnight looked at Elias and he knew that filly had started to develop some kind of crush. She may have not realized it yet, but he knew she would eventually. Or at least he hoped she would, he really didn't want to deal with the awkward situation of having to point it out to her. Elias on the other hoof was a bit harder for him to peg down.
The man was different from anypony or anycreature he had ever encountered. Now after years of sailing and meeting creatures the world over, Gourmet was able to read most with ease. But he couldn't read the strange human, and he often found himself wondering what went on in his head. He came up with a rather wide assortment of crazy scheme's and ideas that he routinely shared with the group. Things no pony would have ever thought of, such as the use of sea water to flavor a soup. He gave a chuckle at that and continued to stir his concoction.
He just hoped that when the time came for that filly to confess her feelings, Elias would recognize it as such and would respond in kind. Otherwise he could only see her ending up broken hearted and Elias confused or uncomfortable. After all, he had no idea if the man was even in to interspecies relationships. Granted they weren't very uncommon in Equestria, his great aunt was a gryphon, but he did wonder what Elias would think about it.
The smell from the soup about a half an hour later had sent a siren call to the two hungry working ponies down the beach and they too joined the group to chow down. Once everypony was fed, Elias gathered them around the fire and when everypony was comfortable, he spoke up.
"Alright everypony, It's time to tell stories. Normally I'd say they had to be scary stories, but we're kind of already in what could amount to a life or death situation. No need to go making us all skittish for no reason." he explained, and he then spent the next few minutes explaining the order they would proceed in.
"Alright, so Star, your up first." He said, gesturing for the pegasus mare to take center stage. She stepped in front of the fire and looked around with a look of thought before she spoke, and started her tale.
"Long long ago, When pony kind were still separated into the three tribes, each warring for territory in respective area's that would benefit them. The unicorns wanted the mountains for its security and the inability for the pegasi to pass over them. The pegasi wanted to build a cloud fortress bigger than any other. One big enough to hold back any creature. And last but not least the earth ponies, who laid claim to the land and chose to grow food for themselves more than anypony else.
The tribes fought ferociously and many battles scarred the land. For many it was family against family and brother against brother, and they knew it could not stand. It was however the discovery of very special nature magic, by two very special fillies over one thousand years ago that changed pony kind forever. By this point Equestria already existed, and it's beautiful lands were soon to be cast in darkness, at least until the two fillies stepped forward and wielded the nature power they had come to control.
Celestia rose the sun as her sister Luna lowered the moon. Their power echoed out through the ranks and all of pony kind could not ignore that the two now possessed wings and horn. They had become something new to pony kind and all ceased their fighting at the behest of the sisters, for who could stand against the might of their magic and magnificence. With the wars quelled, the two were crowned Princesses of Equestria and from then on, they ruled over us, keeping us safe and secure so that we may live long and fruitful lives."
Star smiled as her story came to an end, she took her seat once more and motioned her hoof toward Gourmet. He too stood and took his place as he regaled them with a swashbuckling story of attacks on the high seas by nefarious pirates searching for gold and glory. Pip told a similar story with variations that took the crew of his story beneath the seas to adventure with sea ponies. Free told them a story of a legendary ship builder who lived long ago, a pegasus mare who had built even the largest of the ships contained in the Equestrian Royal Navy. Midnight shuffled uncomfortably as everypony shifted their attention to her while she spun a tale of foals exploring an enchanted forest where they learn how to use magic.
When she finished, everypony turned to Elias. He was the last one, and he had been saving up quite a story for them. After all, he had read the books enough times. He practically knew them word for word, and that would definitely make his version of this story telling a lot easier to do. With a quiet whisper he spoke, as though a lowly bard telling a simple story in a tavern in a far off place.
"Gather around and listen up, for I've a tale to tell of mythical elves, grand adventure and an elusive tale that speaks of the ones that all races called The Dragon Riders..."
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 8: Self Reflection
Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait everyone :) I'm working on multiple stories at once now haha and Im having a pretty good time with it so please bear with me. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and once again if you find any errors, punctuation errors or grammatical mistakes please by all means let me know and I will take care of them as soon as I can.
Hope you all have a wonderful night!
Chapter 8: Self Reflection
Star sat near the fire they had started up on the beach. They had decided once they had returned that they would bring everything from the cave to the ship and that they would be using it for their new home. In a short span of time the remaining pirate crew had cleared out anything they would no longer be using. This consisted of very few things and what was left were barrels of food and supplies that the pirates had stocked. They were also dismantling cages and melting them down with the help of Gourmet.
Free had almost immediately enlisted the help of some other crewmates and Pip after she managed to calm him down. She had them helping with reinforcing the hull of the ship and the masts. They had more than enough lumber to work with and according to Free it would take them roughly two days to finish repairs and stock the ship, especially considering the number of experienced sailors she had on hoof.
Elias and Midnight were recovering in the Captains Quarters and it took all of Star's willpower to not remain by their sides twenty-four seven. The crew had a medic pony that was currently seeing to their wounds and last she heard they were stable but would be sleeping for quite a while. She glared angrily at the sand as her memories of the fight on the ship played themselves over and over in her mind.
She never expected that she would take anyponies life and under different circumstances she wouldn't have. She thought back on how long they'd been on the island and just how much she and the others came to rely on Elias. He was extremely knowledgeable in survival and if it wasn't for him they very well could have died long before any of this had happened. Part of her wanted to blame him for it happening in the first place. The pirates wouldn't have retaliated if he hadn't attacked them first.
But that wouldn't be fair to him, she knew that. They wouldn't have saved Gourmet and Free if he hadn't and they wouldn't have a way off the island. She shook her head and looked back toward the ship and watched everypony work as she thought again on those she had killed the day prior. It made her feel awful and the nightmares she had all night left a sour taste in her mouth. But she knew that if her sister or Elias, or anypony in their group were threatened she would do it again.
"Hey Star, break time's up. You ready to head back to work?" Pip asked as he took a seat next to her.
"Yeah Im feeling recharged, is Free still having trouble with the gryphons?" She replied, standing and stretching her wings and hooves. It was an ongoing problem that Free was dealing with when it came to keeping their rough-housing in check. If it wasn't a griffin spraining a wing, it was one that had chipped a tooth or broken a claw.
"Nah, she's pretty much got em whipped in to shape now. You should see her in action, it's terrifying." Pip put extra emphasis on terrifying as he laughed. Star rolled her eyes and left Pip to his break. They were taking them in shifts while keeping an eye on the horizon. The rest of the crew said they were one ship business, but that didn't dissuade her from the fact that pirates were creatures of fortune and if they happened to see a ship just floating on it's own on an island like this?
It wouldn't be good. That's the last thing she wanted for Elias and Midnight, or anypony else. As hard as it would be, they definitely had enough raw power around now to scrounge up rations and other supplies they would need for the sea. Among which being a plethora of wood that would be needed for repairs. It was Pip's idea however that they bring extra things from the island, special woods, fruits and veggies that could be found. One of which was a strange yet pungent fruit that was orange with pink spots. It smelled like death up close but when you cracked it open it would only get worse.
These they were keeping for themselves as Free had explained that they would make excellent stink bombs in case of boarding party. She was inclined to agree considering the smell still hadn't left her nose. When she got to the ship she could see Free up top in the masts. She was currently placing reinforced finishing's that Gourmet and some of the crew managed to procure. They weren't perfect, but hopefully they would hold up long enough for them to make port somewhere.
The fact remained that while everypony had an important job, hers was to watch over and take care of Elias and her sister. So she made her way into the ship and past various barrels of rations and other supplies. There was plenty of more space and they had enough wood for more barrels and crates should they need them. She smiled and made her way to the upper deck and to the captains quarters, waving to Free and a few griffins as she did so. Free happily waved back, but when she noticed the griffins just staring in awe she growled at them.
Each quickly brought up a claw and gave a hasty wave before they went about their work again. Star gave a rough laugh as she stepped through the door and sunk to the floor in a huff. She wasn't too entirely upset with them being in awe or afraid of her like many of them were. But it still didn't sit right and left a pit deep in her stomach. All it did was remind her of just how much things had changed recently.
With a soft sigh, she crept back to her hooves and made her way to the bed where Elias was currently curled up around Midnight. He was laying on his left side with his right arm wrapped firmly around her as she snuggled into his chest. She smiled at the sight and went about checking their wounds while they recovered. In all honesty, they wouldn't even be sleeping now if one of the crew hadn't mentioned that there was a plant on the island that they had found that would put you to sleep in about thirty seconds.
They had a rather ample stock of that was well and Star was sure it would see some use. Maybe not in stressful situations like the day before, but definitely if somepony or griffin was in pain and needed to sleep to recover. Elias groaned in pain as Star grazed a particularly sensitive area of skin on his upper arm. There was a long and nasty cut that would have gotten infected if Free hadn't gotten to it first. It was just another thing that surprised everypony about her. She said in response to their questions that as a sailor you had to know a lot of things to protect your fellow shipmates.
With her work done and her satisfaction that none of the wounds were festering or infected, Star took her seat and began pouring over the charts that were still laid out on the captains old desk. He had many shipping routes drawn out and one specific one seemed to be nearby their current location, which she could guess was marked by the pin with a bright red ball on it. It was stabbed right into an island a few grids away from what looked to be a large seaport. She stared at it for a while before taking a quill and making a note of stopping by there for resupply as soon as they could.
She chuckled as she thought about just how different she would probably sound to somepony in Equestria right about now. When she left she never once thought about survival or having to plan things out this far in advance. Most things were able to be purchased just outside your door in just about every major city. The more she thought about it, the more she realized just how much they truly took for granted. As she went over logs of what was in their current supplies and how much they were adding, she was also adding up what they would sell for.
Based on estimates she received from the crew in terms of what one could expect for exotic fruits when coming in to port, they could have a hefty sum from this island and it could easily fund a trip to one of the other islands on the map. One she had specifically marked in her own journal before having to ditch it when pirates attacked their ship. In all honesty she really didn't need that old journal now anyway. A lot of it's information was stark in comparison to what she had learned out here. She looked back and watched as Elias' side rose and fell with each breath.
She was sure there was still a lot to learn and the best way would be to continue sailing the southern Equestrian Seas to find as much about nature magic as she could. After all there was only so much you could learn from a fertility pool and she was sure much like Elias that there were far stranger and far more fantastical forms of nature magic out there for them to catalogue.
The thrill of adventure was a bit of a stimulant for her considering the events of late, but things were finally starting look up and that's what mattered when it came down to it. At least they weren't trapped on the island anymore and they now had the benefits of some kind of roof over their heads that wasn't a moist, moss covered cave ceiling. And despite her own hesitation back when she first left comparted to how she felt now, well it was almost moot point.
To think she use to be afraid of water seeping in through cracks in a ship. While yes it did have a propensity to do that from time to time, the boards of most ships were slotted together in such a way as to prevent those kind of leaks. But wood is wood and after all the swelling and drying it would do on these rough seas and in ports, it would stand to reason that leaks would happen eventually. So in all honesty to fear that was pretty silly in hindsight.
She continued to watch her sister and the man who had protected them. She was sure he would be laughing right now at her silly fears, all while Midnight would be furiously blushing at the fact that Elias had his arm around her and she'd be stammering to explain it. She giggled at the mental image and went back to the paperwork on the desk as she wondered what Gourmet would be serving them tonight.
Midnight was in a zone of absolute comfort at the moment. She was warm, wrapped in warm comfortable blankets and she could feel her sisters hoof wrapped around her. This was what she had missed while on the island. At that she almost sat upright, she had forgotten they were on the island. They shouldn't have a warm blanket or comfy bed to sleep on. She opened here eyes and looked at what was in front of her. What she found was a broad and muscular chest, belonging to one Elias the human.
His right arm was draped over her and almost as if on queue, he squeezed her in close as he buried his face in her mane. Midnight blushed heavily as she lay trapped in a prison of comfort and embarrassment. She would normally be terrified and would be hiding it by acting angry, but since he was asleep she knew she could just enjoy this chance. She leaned into the embrace and allowed his scent to fill her nose. He smelled musky and he felt incredibly warm and safe. She looked up at his sleeping face and smiled.
When it came down to it, he wasn't all that bad looking. And as the memories crawled back into her mind of the events that lead them here, she snuggled all the harder into him. He had come to save her. They took her away and he had rushed after them to save her. Granted she knew that they had taken her as bait. They talked loudly enough about it, but she secretly hoped he would save her. While he didn't actually do much in that regard, it was his actions that caught her attention. Nopony other than her sister had ever treated her like that before.
As she watched him sleep, she leaned up and meant to place a chaste kiss on his chin. Instead however he moved in his sleep and just as he did, her lips and his brushed eachother. Midnight upon noticing this exploded with a blush and jumped back off the bed, slamming into the floor painfully with a loud "Ow!"
Elias jumped up from his sleep and looked around in surprise at where he was. When he looked over the edge of the bed though, he found a very embarrassed and heavily blushing Midnight. "You okay?" He asked, offering his hand so that he could help her up. She gripped it with a hoof and pulled herself up before hopping back onto the bed.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, her voice trying it's hardest to sound angry despite how she really felt. Elias laughed and sat on the edge of the bed. "So, think the others are up top?"
Midnight nodded, looked to the right and rolled her eyes. "Well not all of them. One's snoozing on the job." Midnight said as she pointed out her sister, who at the current moment was passed out. She was using their supplies log as a pillow and with a chuckle, Elias slid it out from under and and slide an actual pillow under.
"It's not her fault. She's been taking care of us poor injured creatures for two days now, In fact I'd say she's earned a rest." He stretched out and as he did so, several pops and cracks could be heard along with a softly grunted "That's the good stuff."
For Midnight, she hopped out of the bed and grabbed a nearby main brush that Star had provided her and began seeing to it that her very unruly and knotted mane would cooperate today. Midnight and her sister had spent a good part of the last two days getting many of the largest and most painful knots out of the way, and now it was finally reaching at least a point where she could reliably tie it back. Once that was done, she joined Elias and looked back at the captains quarters. They'd spent two days holed up in here and despite the blush inducing fact that she always woke up cuddling him, it was a very comfy room and she would miss it once she started using a normal cabin.
After all this room would belong to Star who as it turned out had been voted acting Captain in absence of the previous one. They headed on to the open deck and found Gourmet as he served fish stew to everycreature on board. Up in the rats nest sat Free as she cradled a bowl of the same stew, shoveling mouthfuls as she watched for horizon for trouble. Elias walked up and grabbed a bowl from the exuberant stallion who was rather delighted to see the two of them up and moving around again. He even took the time to bring them around and introduced them all to the crew.
Many refused to give names as they said they'd be leaving once they made port in a town, but those that stayed seemed rather happy with the change in leadership. First and foremost was the First Mate, a young yet feisty griffin by the name of Longclaw. He didn't see eye to eye with the way the old Captain was running things and he and many others didn't like the act of taking slaves. He was fierce and intelligent and it was pretty plain to see why he had been made the first mate.
Then there was the new Second Mate, a pegasus mare that had a lot she wanted to prove. Her name was Plumeria, and she came from a rich aristocratic family. The same family that had sold her into slavery to pay off their own debts and when she broke free, she became a pirate herself. She made sure to tell the lot of them up front that so long as they were willing to look out for the crew, then the crew would look out for them. That was good enough for her.
The Bosun and the Chief Engineer, both griffins were pretty quiet and when asked why they wanted to stay, they simply said that this ship was their child and they would never abandon it, not now not ever. From what was explained, they were the ones to go to for any and all ship maintenance that wasn't being spearheaded by Free. Which to say the least wasn't a whole lot of work. The ship could run even with just their little ragtag skeleton crew and if need be they could always pickup more in port.
With that in mind, Elias sat down with his meal and engaged in a rather interesting conversation with Longclaw on the intricacies of knife combat versus hatchet and cutlass based combat. Midnight listened but what she was really watching was him. She couldn't take her eye's off him and in the lantern light with a sky of stars above them, she finally could put to words what she was starting to feel.
For now though, she was content to keep it to herself and with a soft smile she dug into her stew, the taste long having moved past being disgusting for her. It was a cool night and they were finally leaving the island tomorrow. From there who knew where they'd go, and as long as she had her sister and Elias, to Midnight it didn't matter.
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 9: Piracy On The High Sea
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A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 10: Some New Friends And A New Player
It was a rather nice day out, a light breeze was pulling them into port as Elias guided the Enterprise. It had taken a little longer to get here than they had liked. Halfway here they had been waylaid by a storm that had not claimed any lives, but it left poor Plumeria with a broken leg and a grumpy attitude. Free was moving about the ship issuing orders as lines were thrown to the dock to pull them in.
Once they were close enough, they lowered the gangplank and Star headed off to speak to the quartermaster. According to some of the crew, they would need to provide the town here with their purpose for being here and would need to be issued a permit for the port. Elias gave himself a stretch before heading down to the deck to see what needed doing. What happened instead was a very surprised Elias being pulled aside and into the captains quarters by Midnight.
With a soft smile she wrapped her hooves around him and just hugged him. "We made it." She said, nuzzling into his chest as he hugged her back. Elias smiled and ran a hand through her mane. "We did, it's better than being stuck on an island right?" He whispered. Midnight laughed and stepped back with a light blush adorning her smiling face.
"If I'm being honest, I don't think I'd mind being stranded if I still had you." She admitted, her blush becoming far more apparent now as she shuffled nervously. Elias for one was pleasantly surprised. He already knew that he had at least some form of attraction to the mare, and this was quite obviously a confession of similar feelings on her part. Elias was anything but reserved however, and knowing this he strode forward, pulled her close and whispered softly into her ear. "It's the same both ways."
With that he gave her a quick peck on the cheek causing her to freeze in place as he chuckled and stood. He wrapped an arm around her and held her at his side as he left the room. After all, pony statues are very easy to carry, or so he had been told.
Several hours later and much paperwork done with the quartermaster and the town guards, and their prisoners were on the way to the gallows. Now they were just down to nine and while this would be enough to run the ship in an okay capacity, they would need more crewmates if they wanted to sail the seas with impunity. Elias, Star and Midnight had left that to Razorbeak who at the moment was returning from town with a few in tow.
However these two looked nothing like what Elias would assume a prospective crewmate to look like. One was a while unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail that obviously had a lot of effort put into it. She had a cutiemark of three gems and next to her was a rather large purple and green dragon who didn't seem all that out of place. He watched his surroundings with a careful eye and seemed to always stay just one step behind the mare.
Elias moved to join them as Star was introduced. The dragon stepped forward and spoke with authority, "My name is Spike and this is Lady Rarity." At that Rarity gave a curtsy as Star did the same. Elias on the other hand simply shook hands/claws with Spike and gave him a simple nod of the head. Spike seemed somewhat surprised at Elias and looked him over. "Interesting, what's a human doing here?" He asked.
Now it was Elias's turn to be shocked. "You know I'm a human? Are there other humans here?!" He asked excitedly. After all if he could find more people who had been brought here too then at least he would know he wasn't the only one. Spike just shook his head, "No, no humans in our world. In fact I'd say your the first. Twilight and I saw a bunch when we went through a mirror to another world."
Elias sulked a bit at that but not completely. Something Spike said had already piqued his interest. A mirror to another world, a world with humans in it. "Do you think that mirror would be able to let me visit home?" He asked. Spike scratched his chin in thought. "To be honest, I don't think so. The humans in that world look a little different than you do. In fact they look a lot closer to their pony counterparts than to you." He replied, giving him a once over again.
"Ah, I was hoping otherwise but oh well. What can do for you?" Elias asked, crossing his arms as he chewed the side of his cheek. This time Rarity stepped forward. "I do apologize if you all may be busy but we are in desperate need of a ride so to speak. We came here for a bit of diplomacy on behalf of the Princess and when we woke up today, our ship was gone!" As she said gone, she brought a hoof up and placed it over her forehead in a dramatic fashion. "All they left was a note saying that they refused to give us a ride any further because I had too much luggage. The nerve!"
Elias laughed as Spike scratched the back of his neck and rolled his eyes. Star however simply joined her in her flamboyant drama with some of her own. "Oh how awful! We'd love to help you, after all we can't let a lady like yourself deal with such a horrid situation can we?" She explained, using wide sweeping motions to add flare to her speaking. Both Elias and Spike seemed dumbfounded as they watched the two converse in said manner while they boarded the ship.
"I wasn't expecting that from a ship captain." Spike said.
"To be honest, I wasn't either. Maybe we should go make sure they don't stir anything up?" Elias replied as they too moved to follow the now gossiping mares. Spike nodded and kept pace as they followed the two into the captains quarters where three chests full of bits now sat. It turned out that the pirates they had turned in had a lofty price on their heads and that bounty had now been paid in full. So while they were busy talking, Spike was helping them to prepare for departure.
While they got supplies and other things they would need, crew included, Spike got Elias caught up on Equestria as a whole and the events that had taken place over the past eight years. As he explained the now current Princess Twilight Sparkle, a rolled up scroll popped out of rippling emerald fire that resulted in a rather loud burp from the drake. Everyone in the room stopped as Spike unrolled it and began reading.
Dear Spike,
I got your letter and I hope you and Rarity find a viable ride from Crown Jewel. The others and I will be spending a week next month in Manehatten, if you want to join us. I know that you both are meant to continue on to Turtletuga to speak to their leader, so hopefully all goes well. P.s. Luna has expressed a wish to travel and has stated she will meet you along the way. If you could send coordinates to her that would be great!
Sincerely, Twilight.
"Well we have a ride now, so I guess that's done with. You guy's wouldn't happen to be heading to Turtletuga would you?" He asked with chagrin. Elias placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded, "We were headed there to see about finding some more crew and to see about any information that could lead us to any other Nature Magic phenomenon. After all if there is one thing you can trust gold to buy you, it's info."
Spike gave his own agreement to that and with it decided they continued supply well into the night and everyone headed off to sleep, ready for whatever the next day would bring. Elias waved to Rarity and Spike as they went to find their own lodgings while Midnight and Star pulled Elias into bed, closing the door so that nobody would bother them. With some blushing and a few giggles, They settled on either side of the rather warm man and once comfortable the three drifted off to a peaceful slumber.
Within a shadowed room a large creature sat, reading over a scroll that had been signed in blood. With a grimace he stood and looked out the window over the city of Turtletuga. A band of his pirates had apparently been sent to their deaths on Crown Jewel and at the hooves of ponies no less. He stoked his pipe as it's fiery red glow illuminated his gruesome face for but a moment as it reflected in the glass.
This creature known as Elias was of interest to him, and he would not have to wait long if his contact was to be believed. "Let us play a little game then shall we, Human?" His rough laugh sounding more like shale grinding together. He handed a letter off to one of his mates and continued to watch the bay.
When Elias awoke the next morning, he found Star missing and a very warm Midnight with her hooves wrapped firmly around his middle. With some effort, he turned around and wrapped an arm around her as well. He pulled her in close and let out a soft sigh. He'd definitely have to get up soon, but in the moment he wanted nothing more than to just lay there until somebody came to get him.
Midnight seemed to echo this sentiment as she let out of happy sigh of her own as she nuzzled into his chest. This was definitely not a new development, but how they felt about it was different now. Midnight slowly opened her eye's and put her snout into the crook of his neck, giving him a light peck. It was new ground and they both knew it. Even Elias could feel how nervous she was at that moment, but it was washed away when he gave her a similar peck to her forehead.
She looked up at him with slight shock before he moved in and pressed his lips against hers. He heard her breath hitch as her heartbeat increased. It didn't take long though for her to push back into him as well and together they shared their first kiss. One that was interrupted as Rarity burst through the door practically singing.
"Rise and shine darlings! We've much to do toda-oh!" She exclaimed. "Oh my, I'm sorry for spoiling what I'm sure was a very tender moment." She was blushing almost as much as Midnight was who had suddenly ended up a full foot away from the now chuckling man.
"While yes it was a nice moment that I would have enjoyed continuing, We did need to get up so thank you Rarity." Elias said as he slid out of bed and began dressing himself. As he did so he noticed Rarity hadn't left yet and was quietly watching him put on his clothes.
"Can I help you?" He asked, more curious than offended. After all, Midnight and Star still didn't understand why he even wore clothing to bed. Rarity however brightened a bit before she came over to look him over completely, something Midnight was a little upset about as she huffed and brushed out her mane.
"My apologies darling, I was simply fascinated with your clothing. It's a little uncouth but in terms of versatility it is phenomenal!" She said, pulling a measuring tape from out of nowhere as she began taking random measurements. Elias stood there bewildered as he got an impromptu speech on the many ideas he was giving her for a new line of clothing that would suit versatility over beauty. Most of it flew over his head but what he got from it all was that she was a seamstress and that meant new clothes and a possible fix for any of his ruined clothes.
With that in mind he brought up the rest of his things and he steadily watched as her eyes gained an almost distinct sparkle to them. Before he knew it, Rarity and most of his clothes were gone, and Elias and Midnight were left alone wondering what had just happened.
With a shrug they finished getting ready and headed on deck to take on the rest of their day. After all it would be a few more weeks before Turtletuga and they had a lot of time to kill. And who knew, maybe they'd take another ship on the way to add to their crew. As Elias stepped out, he took a deep breath of the salty sea air and smiled.
Author's Note
A new chapter bringing to light a new player on the board! Who could they be? What are their motives? We'll just have to find out! Muahahahahahah!
Anyway I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. I know it's been a while but I've been busy lately and I've been getting back into a lot of hobbies. So Im not holding myself to a deadline anymore. I write because it's fun to tell a story, whether it's good or bad doesn't necessarily matter because at the end of the day, as long as at least one person enjoys this, then I did what I set out to do, ya know?
Sorry for droning on, hope you all have a wonderful night/day depending on time zone!
StormHoof
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 11: The Star Fall (CLOP)
It had been a few weeks since sailing out from Royal Crown and losing the other half of the crew. Elias wasn't too worried about it however, as they were currently on their way to a small island to the north of their current position. Spike had received a reply from Princess Luna letting them know that they were close to her coordinates so they were to meet up there. Elias stood at the side of the top deck while Midnight stood beside him as they gazed out at the rolling sea.
They had gotten close enough now that she held no reservations about leaning against him as he reached down and rubbed her ear, something she was incredibly fond of now. She swore to her sister that his fingers had to have magic powers of some kind. She let out a coo and nuzzled her face into his leg as he let out a chuckle, and with quick speed he plucked her up off the deck and held her in his arms.
She let out a yelp and blushed furiously as he gave her a quick little kiss on the lips. She smiled and reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck as she gazed into his eyes. "You have really pretty eyes for them being so small." She said with a grin. Elias chuckled and tickled her stomach, causing her to burst out laughing. "Not my fault I was born this way. Glad you like them though, I find yours rather beautiful as well." He replied as he placed her back down on the deck.
She huffed at him and flicked her tail at him. "Flattery will get you everywhere sir." She said as she looked back at the human who was now donning a very predatory look. He looked around and making sure nobody was looking, he grabbed her again and ran into their room. Closing and locking the door behind him, he carried her over to the bed and tossed her onto it. She bounced with a 'pompf' as she looked up at Elias. Her ears flattened back as he walked to the bed and crawled up over her. He sat there above her on all fours and looking quite intimidating as she turned to lay on her back.
"If it will get me everywhere, then I think Id like to be here." He whispered as he started kissing down her jaw and along her neck. She let out a small whimper as she tried to hold her moans in. She was still self conscious about it, and while she enjoyed this attention she really wanted him to go all the way with her this time. They had tried a few times already to be together but every time they did someone would barge in on them and ruin the mood.
Feeling his lips travel down her neck and to her chest caused her to let out a little moan. His hands grabbed her forehooves and began to massage her frogs while he gave her more little kisses. This was one of her favorite things that Elias would do for her. It was extremely relaxing and at the same time extremely intimate. He would spend a lot of time kissing up and down her legs, giving as much of her his love as he could while she laid there under him.
Elias himself found her extremely cute and beautiful. It was taking an astronomical amount of restraint for him to not take her right then and there as he worshipped her body. Soon he began making his way down to her stomach and kissed it as well, causing her to giggle as she tried to push him away with her hooves. With a smile he held her hooves back and continued his way down as he listened to her giggles turn into restrained moans.
Every time they were playing around like this she would hold back and not give Elias what he so desperately wanted. He craved to hear her voice calling his name in the throws of passion. He wanted to be the one to make her walls come down and let it all out. Finally he found his prize, her wet and winking marehood now lay before him in all it's beauty. And with a look of a dehydrated man seeing water for the first time, he drank of her fountain. She froze and her hooves went to her sides as she gripped the sheets, gasping as his hot tongue slid up her dripping pussy.
This was something loved more than anything. It wasn't often that stallions would ever go down on a mare, but to have a stallion like Elias who did it not only willingly but loved doing it? That was a dream come true and right now she didn't want the dream to end. She could feel the rough texture of it, sliding up and down her marehood as she placed her hoof against her muzzle to stifle her moans. It was getting harder though as she felt him encircle her winking clit and suck hard, causing her body to arch up as intense pleasure surged through her body.
This was all it took for her mental walls to fall as she let out a loud moan, her hoof on his head as Elias drove her to new heights. As he played with and teased her clit, he took two fingers and rubbed her aching, dripping pussy. Coating his fingers in her juices before sliding them in, feeling her marehood grip them tightly as her body shook with pleasure. Elias grinned as be backed his face away, rubbing her winking clit with his thumb as he fingered her harder.
Midnight had thought his fingers were magical before but it did not compare to this in any way, shape or form. She clamped her hooves around his arms as she felt her body shudder, a large wave of pleasure rocking through her as her body finally gave under the struggle. Pushed over the edge like a waterfall, she screamed her pleasure to the world without a care who could hear it. She stayed there like that, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She looked down to see a smiling Elias with a rather large bulge in his pants.
"N-Not fair...'huff'...I w-want to please you too." She said through short breaths. With what remained of her earthpony strength, she leaned up and caught him off guard, pushing him onto the bed as she sat on his legs. She looked down at his bulging crotch and fiddled with the buttons in vain before he reached down and undid it for her. She gave him a blushing smile and proceeded to bite the waistband as she pulled them down, releasing their captive prisoner. It sprung up and tapped her muzzle, catching her by surprise as she yelped and looked at it.
It was different from a stallions, with a little rounded head that almost made her giggle. It almost looked like a little helmet, and she found it cute. She poked it with a hoof and watched in fascination as it twitched and bobbed back and forth, a little pre-cum beading at the tip. Elias was blushing as he watched this cute little pony mare play with his manhood. Normally this would be embarrassing for him, but he knew this was Midnight's first time seeing human genitals and as such he knew better than to say anything.
Midnight continued to poke at it before she suddenly got the urge to taste it. She looked at Elias and back down at this before sticking out her tongue and licking up the shaft. Elias jumped a bit and groaned, causing Midnight to stop and look at him with concern. "I-I didn't hurt you did I?" She asked, blushing even more now, creating an odd contrast with the worried look on her face. Elias shook his head, "Not at all. It felt really good." He replied with a soft smile.
She relaxed at that and went back to the hard piece of flesh between her hooves, licking it again and sucking on the tip as he moaned for her. The taste was a little salty when she licked the tip, tasting his pre-cum for the first time as savored it. It tasted good and she wanted more. She began licking the tip more, feeling Elias put his hand on her head as he pushed slightly. Star had told her about this once when she asked what stallions liked, that they would use that as a way of telling her to go further.
She smiled slightly and allowed it to slide deeper into her mouth, sliding along her tongue and into her throat as she bottomed out. Looking up from her position she could see Elias laying back with his eyes closed as he let out a deep moan, as if to tell her that was the right thing to do. Slowly she slid back up to the tip, sucking on it hard before swallowing it back down again. She repeated this over and over, watching his face as she made the man she loved feel good. She wanted him to cum, to shoot it in her mouth so she could taste it.
What they didn't expect was for the still locked door to suddenly fly off it's hinges as Star came bursting in. Causing Midnight to choke and accidentally bite down on it. With a surprised and pained yelp, Elias pushed her off and jumped back as he started rubbing his poor manhood. Midnight had frozen where she was, looking like a statue.
"I heard someone yell! Are you guys alright!?" She yelled with worry before she realized what was going on. Her face exploded with the reddest blush anyone would ever see in history. "Oh no, Oh I'm so sorry! I'll leave you guys alone!" She said, covering her face as she dove back out the door, grabbing its remains and slamming it back into place.
"That could have gone better"
As they come upon the island, Elias stood at the wheel, occasionally rubbing his now sore crotch. They were slowly bringing the ship closer on the port side, and as they did they could see a large dark pony standing on the beach next to a much larger white pony. She had a long flowing mane that even from a distance looked to have the entire night sky floating through it. He figured that would be Luna, since her name literally meant moon back home. The one next to her though was a mystery to him. Her long mane billowed the same as Luna's but was colored much like a rainbow and for some reason he was reminded of the sun.
Only problem is that back home Elias' sun was known as Sol. He silently thought to himself about the ramifications of possibly getting a name wrong on first meeting. So instead he chose a different approach, and in a flash of light both Princesses where now standing on the deck. Everybody who was of pony descent immediately bowed. Elias however, after passing off wheel duties to a nearby griffin who had been learning as a backup, he came up to them and gave a light bow.
"A pleasure to meet you Princess Luna, I am Elias. And this lovely mare is?" He asked, turning to the other one as Luna nodded to him with a smile.
"A pleasure indeed, I am Celestia. And you need not call us by title. After all it's Twilight who sits on the throne now" Celestia explained, "Im Luna's sister."
Elias took her hoof in hand and gave it a kiss, smirking slightly as she blushed and batted her eyes at him. "My a gentlestallion, and handsome to boot" She said with a wink, causing Midnight who had just come up to his side to bristle defensively as she hugged his leg and growled at her. Celestia seemed a bit caught off guard by that as those were the actions of a mare protecting her stallion. With a look of brief suspicion on her face she locked eyes with him. That look became a smile as she faced Midnight.
"It was only a joke dear, I don't plan on taking Elias from you." She explained as Midnight relaxed but stay glued to his leg. There was no way in tartarus that she would ever allow anypony or anybody to take her Elias. She looked up at him and smiled before letting out a squeak as he pick her up in his arms.
"I wouldn't let you anyway Celestia. My heart belongs to Midnight. After all she's my marefriend." He said with a confident smile as he looked back at her and gave her a brief kiss. Instead of putting her back down though he continued to carry her as they walked and chatted down to the lower decks. As they went Luna walked behind them, listening to her sister and the human talk. However she was more worried about the things going on in the seas. Tia might not have felt what was coming, but she could and as she did she rushed back up to the top deck. Celestia and the others also turned and came to see what she was rushing for, only to see something that made their blood run cold.
There in the sky, falling as if in slow motion was a large flaming meteor around a quarter of a mile across. They all watched in horror as it struck the ocean several leagues from them. Celestia threw up a shield and braced for the shockwave impact as everybody else began yelling and tying things down.
Luna just stared, her horn aglow as her shield joined her sisters. Elias and Midnight were the only ones to hear her whisper.
"The Star Fall."
Author's Note
I apologize for the Chapter shortness yall. I got an incredible idea with this Star Fall.
ARRRRGGGGHHHHH, IT BE TIME FOR ELIAS AND CREW TO FACE A THREAT TO THEIR VERY LIVES ONCE MORE!!!
Part 2 of this coming later ;) Enjoy my friends!
-StormHoof
View Online
A Legend Of The Equestrian Seas
Chapter 2: Unexpected Friends and Unexpected Answers
Against all logic, Elias could not bring himself to be even remotely freaked out as this little pony clopped up to him with it's face scrunched up in what looked to him to be an effort to look scary. However this had the opposite effect and he knelt and said the first words he'd spoken since he got here.
"You are fucking adorable."
As soon as the last words left his mouth, everything went quiet. The pony stood there, mouth open in shock as Elias reached out and scratched behind it's ears. He was sure judging by how easily it's face was able to emote, something equines of earth just didn't really do, that this pony was the one who had spoken to him. And, judging by her figure, she was obviously a mare. A mare that was now grumbling under her breath as she looked at him. He did manage to catch some of what she said however.
"...didn't feel so nice...buck you in the face..."
Elias simply chuckled and sat back and thought about the fact that since a pony was standing in front of him in quite the opulent color of blue and could speak with what could be immediately rationalized as sapience, he was not on earth anymore. With that cleared up, he only had a thousand more questions about where he was. This presented him with an incredible experience he never would have found on earth.
"Um...are you just going to sit there and stare at me?" the mare asked, watching him while tapping a hoof indignantly. It took him a second to realize she was waiting for him to respond or at least do something other than sit and stare.
"Sorry. Just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm in another world. It's pretty exciting to be frank." Elias replied as he extended his hand, "My name's Elias. You?"
The mare regarded him and his offered hand for a moment before she gripped it with a hoof and shook. "Im Midnight Rhapsody, but you can call me Midnight. This doesn't make us friends though. I don't want something like you in our cave." She said gruffly. Well they were on an island in the middle of who knows where, so it was fair to him for her to be guarded. He simply nodded and walked over to the edge of the trees.
"I'll make my camp here. If that's alright with you. I'll be moving on in the morning to look for fresh water." He said as he placed his pack down. Midnight gave him a strange look before entering the cave and placing a large piece of wood of it the block the way. He simply laughed at this. If him or anything else wanted through to get at her and whoever else was in there, that flimsy piece of driftwood would not help them in any way. He shook his head and started getting his camp ready when he turned and spotted something in the trees that immediately made him smile.
There hanging in a few bunches were coconuts. There were only two of them that were a bit more reachable, and what a treat they would be. Once he had his fire going using the still smoldering wood cigar, he set to climbing up this tree. Luckily he still had his hiking boots on, the spikes on the bottom helped great with keeping himself up instead of sliding down the trunk. Once he was up to right height, he used his hatchet to knock both down before slinging his arm around the trunk again to keep himself from falling back. Slowly and carefully he made his way down and set to cracking one of his spoils open.
What he hadn't counted on was that Midnight had been watching this and decided to make herself known as Elias sat lounging in front of his fire, coconut in hand as he took small bites from one half and drank the juice from the other.
Greedily she snatched it from him and dashed back into the cave, wood once again in place. This gave the man another chuckle as he thought back to some of the supplies he had with him. This set him to planning and once he was ready, he began putting things together. He gathered a bundle of sticks and tinder and placed them at the cave entrance along with another, albeit smaller, wood cigar that was now smoldering. He also placed down one of his plastic bags of trail mix and a bottle of water.
Just because she was being on guard didn't mean he couldn't help her survive a little too. With that done, he made his way back to his fire and sat down to enjoy the rest of his coconut before he laid out his blanket and closed his eyes. It had been an eventful day, all things considered. It could only get more interesting from here.
* * *
The soft crackling of the fire and the sounds of the night lulled him to sleep while Midnight sat in the cave and watched from safety. She still didn't trust the strange thing that had so nicely offered food like that. She turned away from the makeshift door along with the wood and smoldering sticks it had given her. This Elias thing seemed nice but time would tell. Inside the back of the cave sat her sister, Seabreeze Star. She shivered under the makeshift leaf blanket Midnight had made for her, and with every shiver her sister winced. Her right wing was broken but splinted a bit crudely.
Midnight gave a quiet sigh in sadness for Star, and set about making a fire from what she was carrying. She had watched how that thing had started it's fire and she tried to replicate it a few times, but no matter what she did, it wouldn't start. She gave up and tossed the smoking bundle at the wood and upon striking it, it burst into flame. Midnight stared at it blankly before running a hoof down her face in exasperation.
Carefully she moved her sister closer to the fire and laid down next to her on the other side so she could keep her left side warm too. While Star slept, Midnight stared into the flames, watching them dance as she thought back through the events that had brought the two of them here. How were they suppose to know that the ship they were on would be waylaid by slavers. They had paid almost a whole hoof in terms of bits just for the tickets to travel to Maremuda.
Instead Midnight acted on impulse and had grabbed her sister and jumped overboard. Luckily they both washed ashore together, but Star had been knocked around by the waves as they came in and had broken her wing. Since then they had been surviving on the island as best they could. And sure she could show the thing outside where they had found fresh water, but for now they would wait, just to be safe.
She looked down at her sister and then back over to where the water and bag of what looked like trail mix to her, sat. Carefully she got up and grabbed them before taking her spot once again. She placed the water and mix down and looked at them carefully. The thing outside could speak well enough and judging by its use of every day items that everypony had, she knew that it was as sapient as they were. it walking on two hooves though like a minotaur worried her a lot. Was it native here? Had she and her sister encroached on it's home?
She shuddered at the thought and eyed the provisions once more before laying down and closing her eyes. The fire made the cave much warmer and she was able to slip into a more comfortable sleep and dreams of coconuts that teased her from a distance.
It didn't feel like very long at all until daylight had returned and Midnight found herself being nudged awake by Star. She had her muzzle in the plastic bag as she munched on some the trail mix before she swallowed and looked back to her sister.
"Oh good your awake, were these from the thing you were talking about?" she asked quietly. Midnight had explained the first meeting with the thing outside but she didn't know about the coconut or the provisions, so she nodded and explained what had happened.
"Nighty, I told you, if it's nice enough to speak to us and not eat us then we should be trying to help eachother. Being cagey like this could only hurt our chances." Star explained before unscrewing the water bottle cap with her good wing and handing it to Midnight. "Drink up and have some of that trail mix, its really good and really salty. I'm going outside to mingle."
At that Midnight bolted upright and looked warily between her sister and the entrance to the cave. "Are you sure? What if he's just trying to catch us and bring us back to the slavers?" she asked. Star just responded with a flat unconvinced look and walked out of the cave. Midnight rolled her eyes and followed after and exited the cave to find Star staring at the thing that had started packing up it's camp. It was also staring back and had stopped moving.
"Uh, hi. Are you a pegasus?" it asked her sister as it straightened up. Her sister smiled and looked up at the thing and replied with a rather pleasant "Yep, what are you?"
He chuckled and said, "I'm a human, though I imagine as this is another world for me, You probably don't have many or any if at all here." Star nodded and walked up to take a look at his little makeshift camp.
"Thanks for the food and water, oh and for the fire. That was pretty nice of you. Im Seabreeze Star but you can call me Star if you like." She said, as Elias nodded and finished his packing.
"That's a pretty nice name. So I have some questions if you'd be willing to indulge me." He asked, taking a seat on his now full pack as it squished down a bit under his weight. Star sat in front of him and smiled back nodding her consent for him to continue. Thus started a several hour long session of what amounted to twenty questions, but with twenty thousand more questions added.
He discovered he was currently in Equestria, though more importantly he was in the southern Equestrian seas. He was also regaled with their tale of almost capture and escape that led to Star's broken wing, which Elias offered to take a look at and after finding it was rather similar to bird wings, he adjusted and tightened the splint. While this did cause the pegasus mare a bit of pain, it was seated far better now and would heal in a more proper way.
They asked him just as many questions about where he had come from and what it was like to live there. He spent a while explaining the many things he had already done through his life so far and that after having done all of that he was going to hike off and get lost somewhere to enjoy something new, but before he could he had ended up here, which in his books was just as fortuitous as he could have hoped.
After they had gotten acquainted, albeit with some resistance from Midnight, Star set about explaining where the watering hole was that they had found. It was apparently a freshwater spring that ran off the natural Equestrian magic of the area. This was something that fascinated Elias as anyone in their right mind would be. From what Star had explained, Equestria had a veritable wealth of natural magical phenomenon that dotted their world. Each one was more than likely unique and operated in entirely new ways that nopony could possibly calculate.
As they walked through a path the two mares had made and hidden, Elias questioned Star as to how she knew so much, and she explained that she had graduated from Princess Twilight Sparkle's School Of Friendship earlier that year with not only a degree in friendship but a degree in Nature Magic Studies and Research. This almost immediately set Elias laughing at the notion of not only a school of friendship in a world run by pastel colored ponies, but the fact that he was lucky enough to be marooned with one of said ponies who had given him an idea as to what he wanted to do in this world.
While they headed off to find water, Elias set to planning once again, only more long term in nature. He wanted to track down another Natural Magic phenomenon, as this was a great start to what he could certifiably call an adventure. There was just one problem.
Getting off the island.
Author's Note
Another chapter down, and some progress made. Now we have a little context as to the two that Elias may just have to survive with. And possible plans for the future abound. I hope you all enjoy this, and once again let me know what you think and if there are any errors. Im always willing to hear my readers out on the constructive criticism front, for how else does a writer improve? Especially in new writing territory such as this. :P
-StormHoof
