Darkness Beyond the Horizon

Day 20: Skydrop

My life flashed before my eyes as I fell. The trip seemed to be forever. I looked toward the sky and saw Skyfall flying toward me, but I knew she wouldn't make it. It was already too late. My fate was sealed. All that would be left of me is a splat on the poop deck. An ironic fate indeed. As I was falling time began to slow down. I could see the world around me. I could see everything. My friend's faces of horror as they watched me. My affiliates' faces of surprise as they saw me fall. I could hear the sound of the world, the ocean, and, well, everything. My gaze slowly shifted toward where the sun set, and just a moment I could see the horizon and a flash of pure fear ran through me as a blade and I knew, that what lied beyond there would be the end of us all. The last thing I saw shortly before I hit the deck was Skyfall diving towards me with tears in her eyes.

And then all faded to black.

---Before---

For the past few days, I was spending more and more time with Frostbite, Sierra Myst, Grey, Skyfall, and Glade. In our own little way, we became our own little tightly knit group. Hawke joined in too. He was surprisingly close to Glade and seemed to look after her as a big brother would. He was, for the most part, silent and stoic. A lot like Rose, but he was more stoic-ey. It was during our little groupings that I managed to learn a little bit about everyone and what they liked to do, as well as what their cutie marks were.

Hawke was skilled at archery and was able to hit a target from far, far away. Despite being a pegasus, he never flew. His cutie mark was that of an eye strangely enough. He never mentioned where he came from, but from I managed to pick up, he traveled a long way with Glade. I once even managed to pick up the phrase "Elysium" from him.

Sierra was skilled in medicine as well as fishing surprisingly. She was for the most part very shy unless she was doing something she enjoyed. Namingly, fishing. Her cutie mark was that of syringe. When she was resting, I could sometimes see her reading some novellas or practicing her magic.

Frost was quiet some of the time, but despite his craziness he was a genius. He was pretty good at building and taking apart stuff (Which he attributed to his surgical skills) and at rest he sometimes pull out his little box machine-thing and start tinkering with it. His cutie mark was that of a scalpel with a thread strung around it.

Grey was as always, right by my side. "Brothers to the end" he told me. I only recently started paying attention to his skills and how he was surprisingly good with swords especially a pair he called "the NightShade blades", to be honest, I'm still not sure how a pony could hold a pair of swords... Like me, he was still a blank-flank.

Rose, as stoic and silent as ever, was deeply immersed in her books. She seemed to be practically glued to them and every so often she would practice a spell until she was satisfied with it. Although Rose and I have not spoken in some time, we still talked a little bit and I at least managed to learn something about her for my journal. She was from a noble family, and she was born in Canterlot. She got her cutie mark recently when she learned of her aptitude with spells that involved plants. That and just anything involving plants. Turns out that she carried a pot with Poison Joke around with her, just in case anypony upset her or if she just wanted to get back at them. When I stealthily sneaked around her room I also found several books about "Botany" which as far as I could tell meant books about plants. While I was looking around, I also saw something from the corner of my eye, a faint wisp of smoke that disappeared through a small crevice in the wall. As soon as it left, the room seemed to get slightly warmer and brighter. It sent a shiver down my spine as I pondered as to what that thing was...

Skyfall, of all my friends, was the most mysterious. In many ways, she was like Hawke in personality. Quiet, tough, brave and someone to look up to. When she wasn't resting, or exercising she could be found practicing her aerial tricks. It made me wonder why she did that, but then again maybe it was a normal thing for all Pegasi. I didn't manage to find out much about her except for the fact that she was in search of a new home. She met Frost a while back and they've been traveling together since then. Despite not talking much about our lives we still got along very well. Grey sometimes joked that I should marry her before she marries me, but I think he's just messing with my head.

We were busy talking when we suddenly heard a loud *Creeeaaak* *Ka-chunk* *Creeeaaak* *clip-clop, clip-clop*

The captain came down from the front of the ship for the first time and, while mostly ignoring the lot of us, walked around the ship all the while investigating it. He seemed almost keen on finding something. It took a few minutes, but he eventually stopped, turned around, and began examining all of us. His gaze stopped and focused straight on me.

"Turn around." He commanded.

I turned a little bit before I heard a bark from my side "Stop!"

He walked up to me and began examining my wound and occasionally prodding it. He gave a short grunt.

"It's a good thing I let you bring your belongings or else he'd be dead and I'd have another body on my hooves to take care of."

He then trotted away, heading toward the captain's quarters. As he entered we heard a loud screech and then loud "BOOM" as he locked the door.

"...Did anyone else NOT see that coming" I muttered sarcastically.

We spent most of the day hanging out and still exploring the ship. Hawke returned from his little scouting trip and grudgingly admitted what he saw on the ocean.

"There is no way any of us are getting off this ship and get to land alive. The area around us is crawling with monsters. Pretty sure I saw a Leviagatr out there too."

I turned toward Frost and whispered to him "What's a Leviagatr?"

Frost slowly pulled one of his books out of his backpack as Hawke began talking about what else he saw out there.
"This. They're pretty nasty beasties. One of them, even a child, would gladly have you for a snack. On land or in sea they're equally dangerous. Except they're more dangerous at sea since they can swim like crazy..."

I gulped as I looked at the picture of a Leviagatr. They did look ferocious...

Frost was putting his book back in his backpack before the boat started rocking.
Skyfall managed to get ahoof of her surrounding before she called out to us.

"Ugh, Is everypony alright?" Her question was met with a scattering of replies. All of them yes.

"Frost!" She pointed toward him "Do you know what happened?"

Frost shrugged, once again I was intrigued by how a pony could do that...

"Not sure. Underwater activity? Whirlpool? Tidal wave? There's a bunch of stuff that could cause this to happen"
His answer was met with a deep and loud roar that echoed throughout the ship!

Hawke opened the door to the cabins.

"EVERYPONY! GET INSIDE! NOW!" He barely managed to finish before the shop rocked again. this time, I did not manage to grab a hold of something and I crashed into a pile of crates that were tied down to the deck.

We all scattered towards the door before suddenly without warning the boat rocked again! This time it was far more strongly
than before as I briefly saw a claw go underwater. I was then thrown into Scorch who was holding on for dear life.

"ARGH, GET YER OWN HOLD" He shouted before he kicked me off. I crashed into the mast before I heard the roar again.

"EVERYPONY! GET YOUR FLANKS INSIDE NOW!" Shouted Hawke before he pulled himself inside. The boat was then beginning to tip over slightly as I saw what was causing all this ruckus.

"Oh buck..." I murmured as I saw the monster. Out of all the things we had to encounter, it just had to be a Leviagatr. But this one was different from the picture. For one, it was far larger and it's spikes were in greater numbers. It's claws shined with the gleam of silver and its eyes glowed a malicious red. It bellowed and I nearly lost my hold on the deck. The monster was growling as it saw than I wasn't dislodged.

Why is it glaring at me like that...I weakly thought as the world was beginning to spin. I thought I was getting seasick. I turned back toward the door where I saw Scorch climbing to. Hanging onto the doorway was Skyfall, beckoning me to get up there. I began my steady climb as I pulled myself onto the crates which were still miraculously attached "Thank Luna" I muttered as I grabbed a pair of spikes (At this point I decided to not question how I grabbed them if it meant saving my life.) and with them, I began my not-so-steady ascent diagonally upwards towards the door. And that creepy floating balloon that had the image of a pink pony with fluffy hair, but I think that was just a hallucination.

It was long and arduous, especially with that really angry Leviagatr below me, but as I nearly made it upwards The boat began tipping over again. This time not slightly, but heavily. I guess that the Leviagatr realized that its prey was going to escape so it might as well take us all down for a swim. I turned toward Skyfall and the others, their eyes filled with fear and I knew that I had to make a difficult choice. Fight or (Metaphorical, cause I don't have any wings in case you forgot) Flight.
I chose Fight.

It was either me, or all of us, but I'd rather have it be me. Planting my hooves on the deck, I pulled with all my strength until they both came free...And so did I. I turned round in mid fall as I dived toward the beast. Its eyes were gleaming with neither hunger nor fear, but satisfaction. It was at this point that I realized that in the end, it would still be me, no matter what choice I made in the end. The beast was targeting me. How, and why were questions that I wanted to pursue, but would not be able to as the only thought that was running through my mind was:

"AGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH BUCK BUCK BUCK BUCK BUCK BUCK 'Oh look 2 bits' BUCK BUCK BUCK BUUUUUUUUUCK!!!" I leaned forward and closed my eyes as I dived toward the monster, unafraid of what would follow. "AT least I saved my friends" i thought. Suddenly I stopped and a powerful jolt ran through me. I slowly opened one eye and saw that I stabbed the monster above the eye as hot, steaming blood began to pour from its deep wound. The scent of burned flesh hit my nose with force as turned slightly and saw that my left side was badly burned. "Could Levaigatrs breathe fire" I wondered? Ignoring the blood gushing from the would as that of a stream, I ripped the spike out of the flesh and I jammed it into the flesh above. The spike barely penetrated the armor so I pulled out the spike and jabbed the wound again and again. I lifted the spike again and strongly jammed it down again. This time it went in real deep and I was met with a Roar and a blast of...Flame? Something shot out of the beasts mouth. It looked like flame, but it was more concentrated and really, really hot. I tried to jab the beast in the eye, but its eyelids were too thick for me to penetrate with my second spike. With a final roar, the beast launched me into the air and let go of the ship. Suddenly I found myself shooting upward towards the sky!

And then I was falling slowly.

I heard a loud shout from behind me and I turned my head and saw that my friends left the cabins and they gazed at me in shock. Skyfall was not there, but rather she was rocketing toward me, her determination to save me was a blazing star in the dusk. I looked ahead of me, I was slowly beginning to gain speed. I grunted as rock shot past me, and from behind me I heard a shout, and then a loud "Thud". It looked as if I wouldn't be saved at all. All around me, debris and cargo began to fall. Probably from when the beast shook me off, it must have dislodged some underwater rocks and cargo from the ship

My life flashed before my eyes as I fell. The trip seemed to be forever. I looked toward the sky and saw Skyfall flying toward me, but I knew she wouldn't make it. It was already too late. My fate was sealed. All that would be left of me is a splat on the poop deck. An ironic fate indeed. As I was falling time began to slow down. I could see the world around me. I could see everything. My friend's faces of horror as they watched me. My affiliates' faces of surprise as they saw me fall. I could hear the sound of the world, the ocean, and, well, everything. My gaze slowly shifted toward where the sun set, and just a moment I could see the horizon and a flash of pure fear ran through me as a blade and I knew, that what lied beyond there would be the end of us all. The last thing I saw shortly before I hit the deck was Skyfall diving towards me with tears in her eyes.

Somewhere in Equestria a pony collapsed in shock as she dropped a memory orb.
Overwhelmed by the memory that lied inside, she was unable to stay conscious.
Soon, sleep crept over her and laid her to bed.

It would be a while before she got back up again

Miles away, in a small home, in a comfortable bed, a certain Pegasus dropped the book she was reading.
Her memory orb had activated as she had reached close to the end of the chapter.
She too, had seen what had happened. But from a different perspective.
Tonight, two ponies with nearly no connection to each other had been in the same place.

But from different vantage points, they both had only seen part of the story.

In the dark chamber
*Yaaawn*
"Hmmm?"

"Oh it's you. What do you want?"