Twilight Sparkle paced back and forth past the library’s front windows, absentmindedly blowing her forelock out of her eyes. It’s got to come today! Please let it come today! She craned her neck to see as far as she could in either direction, her face pressed against the window pane. Finally, some movement far down the street caught her attention.
A gray pegasus slalomed her way up the road, spending a few agonizing moments at each doorway before continuing on. Her path led toward the library’s front stoop with tantalizing slowness. As the mare approached ever closer, Twilight could see the bulging saddlebags stuffed with possibilities. Just three intervening houses remained, then two, then one. Twilight bobbed up and down on her hooftips, her smile growing larger by the second.
With an abrupt about-face, Derpy headed back toward a mailbox she had inadvertently skipped. Twilight sighed heavily and rubbed a hoof on her temple.
After making her out-of-order delivery, the mailmare’s steady progress up the roadway resumed as she smiled broadly at the tree that must surely be her next destination. She twisted her neck around and pulled a fat envelope from her mail pouch. Just as she drew close enough so that Twilight could begin making out the regal figure of Princess Celestia on the stamp, the pegasus turned once again, heading toward Town Hall. Twilight gritted her teeth and emitted a frustrated grumble, bursting through the doorway and into the dusty street.
“Derpy Hooves, you get back here this instant!” The unicorn glanced around, but saw no sign of her quarry, only the startled expressions of several onlookers. “Gaah!” She galloped at top speed in the last direction she had seen Derpy go. Town Hall flashed past, then Carousel Boutique. Twilight’s eye began to twitch and she skidded to a halt, slamming a hoof down in exasperation. Her teeth now grinding audibly, she teleported back to the library, only to find the mail carrier waiting for her.
“Where have you been, Twilight? I found the door open, but you weren’t here. I know you’ve been expecting this letter.” Derpy extracted a disappointingly thin envelope from the depths of her mailbag and proffered it to the librarian.
“Thank you,” Twilight said through her clenched jaw, her eyelid jerking with renewed vigor. She hurried back inside and popped the envelope apart like a nutshell, leaving a single sheet of parchment levitating in front of her face. Her eyes grew wider with each sentence she silently mouthed to herself, until she finally squealed in delight, clutching the page to her chest.
“We did it, we did it!” echoed throughout the streets as Twilight raced toward Sugarcube Corner. Those inside the establishment heard the Doppler-shifted proclamation rapidly approaching, but Mr. Cake still barely avoided a violent collision with the purple streak that shot past the counter. “We did it!” Twilight wheezed one last time through her panting, finally collapsing into a chair and flopping forward onto the table.
“Did what, silly?” asked Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash had already run to Twilight’s side, joining in her hysterics.
“Omigosh omigosh omigosh! Did you bring it?”
Twilight nodded feebly, sliding the letter across the table to her multicolored friend. “Read…” was all she could utter.
“Dear Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle,
Thank you for your entry in the Daring Do fanfiction contest. Your original story ‘Daring Do and the Amphibious Samurai’ has won first place. Congratulations on winning our Grand Prize! You two and four additional friends will be taking a day cruise to Maretha’s Vineyard, and your story will be published in our next anthology. Your tickets will be waiting for you pierside!
If you wish to make any final edits to your story, please return an updated copy within two weeks.
Signed,
Inkwell, CEO, Canterlot Publishing House”
Rainbow Dash vibrated until her colors seemed to blend together. “This. Is. So. Cool!”
“Woo hoo!” cried Pinkie Pie, her bouncing almost reaching the rafters. “Who ya gonna take, huh? Huh? Huh?” She tore across the room, ending up nose-to-nose with Twilight Sparkle. “Can I go? Can I? Can I?”
Twilight grasped Pinkie’s hoof and pulled as if it were her only means of escape from a snake pit. Still panting, she could only manage, “Others… Library…” before she disappeared in a flash of purple.
Five expectant faces watched Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle as they proudly stood in the middle of the library’s floor.
“We won the contest!” Twilight proclaimed, her gleaming smile illuminating the room.
“Yeah, and you all get to go with us on the cruise!” added Dash, her tail excitedly swishing. “I knew an awesome samurai would win it!”
Her audience leaned forward and gasped.
Twilight closed her eyes and held her head high. “And the scientifically accurate explanation of the proper amphibious anatomy gave it that special something.”
“But… aren’t there only six tickets?” Fluttershy asked, her face contorted into a picture of confusion. “Not to argue, but… You know…”
“I’ve been saving for a little trip anyway,” Twilight said, smiling at already having her strategy mapped out and well-organized. “I’ll buy another ticket so Spike can come along.”
Spike waved a dismissive claw and halfway closed his eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks. Dragons and oceans don’t mix well. It’s that whole fire and water thing.”
“Are you sure, Spike?” Twilight asked, a look of concern crossing her face. “I don’t mind.”
“Yes,” he reassured her. “I can watch the library and look after Fluttershy’s animals that day.”
Fluttershy blushed slightly and lowered her head to Spike’s level. “Thank you, Spike, that’s very… um… sweet of you,” she said, adding as an afterthought, “eep.”
“Why, that’s stupendous!” Rarity exclaimed, holding her hooves to her chest and looking upward with a starry glint in her eyes. “They have the loveliest boutiques there! I’ve always wanted to go. I might even drum up some new clientele!” Her mind boggled at the possibilities as she began enumerating her mental checklist. “I’ll need several dozen bolts of my finest fabric, plenty of thread, a box of jewels, a ponyquin, …”
Twilight glared at her daydreaming friend through hooded eyes. “Rarity,” she interjected in her throaty “knock it off” voice. “It’s one day.”
“Oh. I suppose I could just… take it easy, then,” Rarity demurred, lighting up somewhat at the prospect of some leisure time. “Get rid of some stress. It shows around the eyes, you know,” she confided, circling a hoof around her face.
“Whatcha s’posed to do on one of these… cruises?” asked Applejack, one eye half-shut as she puzzled over this new mystery.
“You can lay out and soak up some sun,” Pinkie offered as she descended from the apex of one of her leaps.
“I can do that on the farm, sugarcube,” answered Applejack, her expression unchanged.
“Eat a lot of good food?”
“Can still do that.”
“Lots of activities?”
“On the farm.”
“Dance?”
“Farm.”
“Talk to the cruise director about providing all of that good food so you can be the exclusive supplier of apple pies, apple fritters, apple crumble, apple cobbler…” A timely lasso held the loquacious pony’s mouth shut.
Applejack rolled her eyes upward in thought for a moment. “Okay, I’m in.”
“Fluttershy?” asked Twilight.
“Oh, yes! I’d love to meet all those wonderful sea creatures,” she replied, her eyes closed in blissful reverie and her ears pricked up so enthusiastically that they practically trembled.
“Great!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “This is gonna be awesome!”
From among the crowd of other cruise guests, the six friends waved a cheerful farewell to those assembled on the dock as the ship pulled slowly out of port, its sails snapping taut in the billowing sea breeze. It surged forward, taking on a rhythmic pitch as it left the harbor behind, proceeded past the breakwater, and emerged into open ocean.
“So, what is everypony going to do?” asked Twilight.
“Well,” replied Fluttershy, “I was going to head up to the front—”
“Bow,” Twilight corrected.
“—to see if I…” Fluttershy leaned over the railing and craned her neck to watch the ship’s prow cut a frothy wake through the waves. “There! Dolphins! It’s true!” She jumped over the side and flapped her way to the playful mammals. Her face lit up and she gestured emphatically as she engaged them in conversation, the rumbling sea spray preventing her words from reaching Twilight’s ears.
Rainbow Dash gazed around at the unobstructed horizon. “I’m going up—”
“Aloft,” Twilight interjected.
“—to the mast! It’s a great launching point! No trees, no hills, no buildings, no hard ground—this is the perfect place to practice tricks!” Rainbow shot up among the sails to gauge the wind direction, then streaked into the sky.
Pinkie Pie bounced higher than ever, timing her leaps with the ship’s heaving to gain extra altitude. “At the back—”
“Stern,” Twilight interrupted.
“—there’s a rock climbing wall! Count me in!” Pinkie’s mane, puffed up even more by the wind-whipped salt air, bobbed away after its owner.
“I saw,” Rarity began, “in the pamphlet that there’s a spa two floors—”
“Decks,” Twilight contributed.
“—downstairs—”
“Below.”
“—down the hallway—”
“Passage.”
“—to the right.”
“Starboard.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow and whispered out the side of her mouth. “Rare, is she gonna be like this all day?”
Displaying the most genuine smile she could muster, Rarity extricated herself from the conversation and headed for her date with a massage table and a hoof file.
“Is there anything I can help you with, ma’am?”
Twilight turned around to see a cerulean earth pony in uniform. Her name tag read, “Sea Foam, Cruise Director.” “Ah, yes, where’s your library?”
Applejack shook her head. “Sugarcube, the point of vacation is to do somethin’ different.”
“Oh, it will be different,” Twilight replied, her eyes gleaming. “Different view, different chair, different smells.”
“We don’t have a dedicated library, ma’am, but there is a small selection of books in the lounge, mostly recent fiction,” Sea Foam answered.
“Any scientific journals or spell books?” Twilight gave a nervous grin and stretched her neck forward.
“I’m afraid not, ma’am.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see what you’ve got.” Twilight trotted off, looking back one last time to watch Applejack nudge her hat into a jaunty angle with her hoof and place a foreleg around Sea Foam’s neck.
“I see y’all folks got a mighty fine caterin’ effort goin’ here. I got a business proposition for you…”
An hour later, Twilight Sparkle sighed and tossed her magazine back onto the coffee table. I’d already read everything here except for this poetry journal. Oh, well. I wonder what the others are up to. I still need to work on my story.
She left the lounge and walked down the passageway toward the spa to find Rarity. As she rounded a corner, she nearly collided with Pinkie Pie. She held her hooves to her mouth and gasped. “Goodness, Pinkie! What happened to you?”
Pinkie leaned on a crutch, her left hind leg wrapped in a bandage from the knee down. Through her sheepish grin, she said, “I fell off the rock wall and sprained my ankle. But the nurse colored it brown for me, so it looks like a peg leg!” She giggled as she hobbled past Twilight. “Yar,” she added for punctuation.
Twilight gaped after her, then shook the cobwebs out of her mind. Continuing on to the spa, she found Rarity basking under a sun lamp. “Hi, Rarity! How’s everything going?” she asked, giving her friend a cheerful wave.
Raising her sunglasses slightly and opening a single eye, Rarity perked up. “Oh, hello, dear! Come to join me?” She patted an empty chair beside her.
“Um… you do know you can do that outside, right?” Twilight asked.
“Ugh. I simply can’t have that salt spray gumming up my beautiful mane.” She closed her eyes and turned up her nose.
“Oh,” Twilight replied, tapping a hoof on her chin as she rolled her eyes downward. “You haven’t been on a boat before. I’d just think you’d want to be out on deck and see the sights. It also helps ward off seasickness.” She smiled broadly at her helpful contribution.
“Seasickness?” Rarity’s sunglasses floated onto the small table beside the lamp. “Surely not!” Her rapid-fire words came out in a low tone.
“I was going to ask you to help me revise my story, but reading can bring it on. In mild cases, you might not notice it if you’re able to keep yourself distracted, but if you’re not used to the rocking motion, the back and forth…”
Rarity’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.
“…up and down…”
The reclining unicorn’s white coat began to take on a tinge of green.
“…and if you can’t see the horizon, like in here, it can give you a headache…”
Perfectly manicured hooves rose to massage ivory temples.
“…or make you nauseated.”
Rarity swallowed hard before dashing out the doorway.
“Hm. I wonder what was wrong with her.” Twilight shot a quizzical glance after her friend, then turned to head back outside. “I wonder if Fluttershy’s enjoying her new acquaintances.”
Twilight emerged on deck to see an off-color Rarity slumped against the railing and emitting a low groan. She was about to offer some words of comfort when Rainbow Dash hurtled past, her wake rippling Twilight’s mane.
“This is so awesome!” Dash shouted as she shot low over the water, clipping the tops of wave crests. She pulled up abruptly and soared straight upward until she disappeared above the clouds.
Twilight turned back toward Rarity, but Fluttershy popped over the side and landed heavily on the deck between them, her wings shaking with fatigue. “You’ve been hovering down there the whole time?” Twilight asked incredulously. “It’s been almost two hours!”
“Oh, those dolphins are just wonderful! They’re so polite, and they tell very funny jokes!” Fluttershy said, her eyes closed in a dreamy expression.
“What did you talk about?” Twilight asked.
“Mostly fish. They told me all about the beautiful tropical ones they see when they migrate.” Fluttershy sighed as she visualized vast schools of vividly colored fish swarming about her. “It would be so lovely to be part of a kelp forest near a coral reef…”
“It sounds beautiful... but would you mind helping me with my story?” Twilight waited a few moments for a response, but Fluttershy continued to stand there, a dreamy smile floating below her closed eyes.
Rainbow Dash came streaking back down from the clouds, but as she approached the water, she suddenly flared her wings and backpedaled wildly for whatever traction her hooves might provide against the air. She slammed into a seagull that had wandered into her path, and after ricocheting off her chest, it landed on the deck with a dull thud.
“Oh my goodness! You poor dear!” Snapped out of her daydream by the sound, Fluttershy ran to help the stricken bird, who sat up uneasily and rubbed his wobbling head with a wingtip. “There now, let me have a look. Oh, you’ve got a badly bruised wing! You need to rest it for a few days. You stay with us, and we’ll look after you.”
“Heh. Sorry.” Rainbow Dash had settled onto the boat and was ashamedly rubbing a hoof on the back of her neck. In reply, the gull gave a sharp glare that almost stripped the varnish off the railing.
“I’ll watch him, I’ll watch him!” called Pinkie as she hurried over in her limping gait. “He is a laughing gull, after all. We should get along great! I’ll call you Laughy McLaugherson,” she said, installing him on her shoulder. “You’ll be safe with me. Nopony will hurt you.” She cast a wary eye over the assembly of friends. “Or I’ll keelhaul the lot o’ ye.” Laughy’s chortle of agreement was cut short as Pinkie screeched in his ear. “Land ho! Stand ready, mateys, and prepare to heave line!”
Just as the ship was pulling up to the dock at Maretha’s Vineyard, Applejack strolled over to the group with a beleaguered-looking Sea Foam. “So you see, if you reinvest that capital quarterly, you can earn an extra two percent profit before you have to pay out dividends.”
“Thank you, ma’am, but… we’re here. Don’t you want to go look around town?” The cruise director cast a pleading glance toward Twilight.
“Sure we do! C’mon, everypony! Let’s go get some lunch and do some shopping. Hooves in!” Five pairs of eyes in various states of dubiousness looked at Twilight before each mare added her foreleg to the stack. “Alright… what’s the name of this ship?”
“The Venture, ma’am,” Sea Foam replied.
“Go Team Venture!”
Five mares allowed the purple one to get a comfortable distance ahead before following her down the gangway.
“I need one wide enough to shade Laughy McLaugherson,” Pinkie explained as she tried on a series of hats. Rarity shook her head at each one, her grimace growing more intense by the minute.
While browsing the postcard rack for a souvenir to bring Spike, Twilight giggled at the fashion spectacle.
“Oh, this one’s perfect!” Pinkie modeled a black hat with a moderately wide brim and a gold ribbon around the edge. “What do you think, Laughy?” A hearty guffaw of approval came in reply.
“I suppose it… could work,” Rarity opined.
“Um… shouldn’t we, you know, go to lunch soon?” Fluttershy asked. “If it’s okay… We’ve only got ninety minutes until we have to be back.”
“There’s a lovely café next door with a wonderful view of the beach,” Twilight said. “Anypony interested?”
“Beach?” A conspiratorial look swept across Pinkie’s features. “Uh… I’ll catch up with you later. I’ve got… something to do.” She hobbled away as Laughy glared back from under the shade of Pinkie’s new hat to make sure nopony followed.
The remaining five made their way to an empty table and ordered glasses of iced tea. From their vantage point on the patio, they could see a small pink shape in the distance, scanning the shoreline with a metal detector. Occasionally, Pinkie would dig furiously, cast a suspicious glance around, and carefully replace the sand, erasing any evidence of her activity.
When the waiter returned with everypony’s food, he placed a grilled portobello sandwich in front of Rarity. Twilight beamed widely at Rarity’s choice, and decided to help again as she took her first bite. “I love mushrooms! But if you’re not feeling well, maybe you shouldn’t eat too much.”
Gingerly swallowing a few bites, Rarity sighed and pushed her plate back. “You’re probably right, Twilight dear,” she said through a forced smile, even as her stomach growled.
“I’ll eat that if you don’t want it,” Rainbow volunteered, reaching for the sandwich. “I need energy for my workout.”
Fluttershy munched happily on her alfalfa wrap while Applejack dug in to a turnip pot pie. “Mm. Mighty fine victuals,” she mumbled through a mouthful.
As the other four mares were finishing their lunches, Pinkie strolled up from the beach. “Look what I got!” she proclaimed, emptying a small pouch onto the table in front of Twilight. She patiently awaited the inevitable applause for her accomplishment.
Indulging her friend, Twilight sifted through the loose objects and held each one up in turn. “Let’s see… rusty saddle buckle, three bits, butter knife, and… Oh wow, this is a pretty old silver coin!”
Pinkie’s expression became suddenly guarded as she took the knife and gave it a few experimental swishes through the air. “I’ll be thankin’ ye to keep your hooves off me treasure.” Her face brightened before she added, “Okie dokie lokie?”
“Um… sure, Pinkie.” Twilight swept the items back into the pouch and reached for the bill.
“It’s alright, sugarcube. We all brought money,” Applejack reassured her. “It’s mighty fine o’ you to have invited us. You don’t need to pay.”
“I told you I had saved some extra bits. Please, it’s my treat. Thank you all for coming along.” Twilight’s friends all smiled their thanks and reluctantly put away their cash.
Six mares and one seagull proceeded back to the wharf and reboarded the Venture. Rarity, for one, did not appreciate the sound of the word “wharf” when Twilight used it five times on the walk there.
Once aboard, Pinkie Pie immediately headed for the galley, licking her lips. “C’mon, Laughy. We still need to have lunch. I bet they’ve already got the pastries set out!”
Sea Foam emerged from a doorway and did a double-take. She tried to sneak back inside inconspicuously, but Applejack had spotted her.
“Ah, there you are, sugarcube! Now, as I was sayin’, if you manage your profits carefully, you can stay in a lower tax bracket and put any extra in a tax-deferred investment, then wait to get it out when inflation pressures have…”
Lazily flitting up the mast, Rainbow Dash took a rope and tied the ends to a yardarm and a small cloud. With the ship underway, she settled onto her towed hammock for a nice after-lunch nap, becoming drowsy in the warm sun as she hooked her forelegs behind her neck. “Maybe I shouldn’t have had that extra sandwich. Oh well, I’ll just… sleep it… off…”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted up at her. “I was hoping we could work on our story!” No answer came back, and the limp hoof dangling from the cloud’s edge told Twilight all she needed to know. “Fluttershy, would you mind—?”
Fluttershy ran forward and leaned far over the gunwale, waiting to see if her cetacean friends would rejoin her for the return voyage. Her cheeks rested on her forelegs as she sighed contentedly into the wind.
“Actually, some dessert sounds good,” Twilight said. “And maybe Pinkie will help me. Rarity, would you like to come along? You ought to eat something, or you could get light-headed.”
Rarity’s knees wobbled a bit as her face somehow became paler. “I think I’ll… lie down and soak up some afternoon rays.” She pulled up a deck chair and leaned back in it, keeping a watchful eye on the horizon to steady herself.
Twilight dragged another chair over and smiled down at her friend. “I’ll keep you company. I’m worried that you’re not having any fun.”
Her expression softening as she let out a sigh, Rarity waved a hoof. “I’m perfectly fine, dear. Go enjoy your dessert. You should probably make sure Pinkie is okay anyway. She and that… horrid… bird. Between you and me…” She beckoned Twilight closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. “…I think she may be going off on another one of her mental flights of fancy.”
Nodding her agreement, Twilight started to head inside, but as an afterthought walked over to Fluttershy’s side. “I’m going to get some dessert. Would you like me to bring you any?”
“Oh, thank you, but no. I’m full enough, and I need to be able to fly when the dolphins come back.”
“Okay. Would you mind helping me with my story a bit until—?”
“Oh, here they come now!” Fluttershy pricked her ears at the sound of animated chattering and soon located the glossy gray forms cavorting in the waves as they neared the ship. The pegasus dove over the edge and glided out to meet them.
Grinning halfheartedly at her friend’s enthusiasm, Twilight once more walked inside. On her way to the galley, she again nearly collided with Pinkie Pie. “Gaah! Pinkie, what happened this time?”
The earth pony wore a patch over one eye, her other one picking up the slack with a double dose of mischievous glimmer. “Oh, I was making a Pinkie Swear to Laughy McLaugherson, but I forgot I actually did have a cupcake, so in my eye it went.” She giggled her embarrassment. “But it kind of fits, don’t you think? The nurse even colored it black for me.” While squinting her good eye, she took a few more hobbling steps forward and brandished her butter knife. “Avast, me hearty! Shiver me timbers, all hands on deck!” she cried in a throaty growl. Laughy echoed with his own chuckle as Pinkie continued down the passageway.
Once she had finally made it to the galley, Twilight levitated a pair of cupcakes for herself and decided to take a chocolate-dipped croissant for Rarity as well. She went back on deck to the unicorn’s side and offered the treat she had brought. “Here you go, Rarity. I thought the natural caffeine in the chocolate might help if you still have your headache.”
Rarity, having blissfully forgotten about her erstwhile throbbing skull, touched a hoof to her forehead as the pounding started anew. Her eye began to twitch and the vein in her temple bulged. “No, thank you, Twilight,” she answered brusquely, not even bothering to turn toward her friend as she squeezed her eyes shut.
“I... was wondering...” Twilight set the croissant on a small table next to Rarity and walked off without a sound, her head hanging. As she rounded a corner on her way to the lounge, she narrowly avoided yet another collision with Pinkie Pie, who lost her balance and stumbled into a supply closet.
A bottle of cleaning fluid fell onto her head and broke, the moisture curling the front of her hat’s brim upward. The skull-and-bones poison warning label clung to the upturned flap of felt. Seeing her reflection in a stainless-steel dustpan, Pinkie squealed as a grin slowly spanned her face. “Ye scurvy scalawags! Topside, the lot of ye, an’ hoist the mainsail, lest ye walk the plank!”
“I’m sorry! Are you okay?” Twilight asked, holding a hoof to her chest as she gasped.
“Yarr, I be ship-shape, lass!”
“Good.” Her voice becoming quieter, Twilight averted her eyes. “Pinkie, would you mind—?”
“Squawk!”
Twilight jumped and stared at Laughy.
“Mind what, Twilight?” Pinkie replied, tearing her gaze away from her image.
“Mind help—?”
“Squawk!”
“Help?”
“Helping me with—?”
“Squawk!”
Twilight sighed and returned her gaze to the floor. “Never mind,” she said, barely above a whisper. Once she had arrived at the lounge again, she took refuge on a couch and pulled out the manuscript from her saddlebag. Only half a page in, she let her head slump down onto the plush cushion and let out a long sigh. She rolled onto her side, facing into the back of the couch, and let her eyes drift closed. After nearly half an hour, she heard timid hoofsteps approaching from behind.
“Twi-Twilight?” Rarity sat down on the couch.
Turning over to face her friend, Twilight rubbed her eyes.
“Thank you for getting me that croissant, Twilight. It did help my headache.” Rarity gave her a small smile.
“I’m sorry, Rarity. I wrecked the whole day for you, and I didn’t even realize what I was doing. I tried to help, but just ended up keeping it on your mind.” She leaned in and hugged Rarity.
“Twilight, dear, you’ve quite graciously invited me on this trip, and I’ve been neglecting you. It’s not… proper. I’ve been sitting around all day when I could have been helping you.” Rarity patted Twilight’s shoulder and looked her in the eye, giving her a half-lidded expression of affection as the tension in her cheeks finally relaxed enough to allow a warm smile. “Are we okay?”
Twilight nodded and hugged Rarity again. Noting the green tint still marring her friend’s coloration, she said, “You know, there’s a nerve bundle that will help alleviate seasickness if you stimulate it. Here…” She stuck a hooftip against a small hollow behind Rarity’s ear and massaged it lightly. “Does that feel better?”
“Mm. Yes, it actually does.” Her color returning to its customary ivory, Rarity stood up and pulled Twilight after her. “Come on. Let’s finish that spa appointment, and we can discuss your story while we relax.”
An hour later, two refreshed unicorns strode out on deck as the ship approached land. Fluttershy joined them at the railing, her body once again shaking from the effort of having flown the whole way.
“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie yelled from up among the sails. “You’re in the crow’s nest up there! You’re supposed to call, ‘Land ho!’”
Dash waved a dismissive hoof and let her wings droop limply over the edges of her cloud.
Finally breaking away from a visibly spent Sea Foam, Applejack doffed her hat in farewell and stood with her friends. “Alright, we got us a contract! Half o’ their apple purchases during peak season. Yee-haw!”
“We’ll have to send a letter to Celestia about this once we’re home,” Twilight said. “I already know what I want to say.”
“About what, sugarcube?”
“Just… what a good time we had, and what it means to have good friends like all of you.” Twilight beamed broadly at her friends and hugged them, rolling her eyes upward to include the two out-of-reach ones.
As they pulled into the harbor, a small boat headed out to meet them. When it drew near, a shriek sounded from the cruise ship’s mast. “Avast! Privateers off the port bow! Everypony to her pike! Repel all boarders!” Pinkie slid down a rigging line with her skull-and-crossbones hat, eye patch, peg leg, and avian companion, with the butter knife clutched in her teeth. Taking a flying leap over the side with her maniacally cackling sidekick, she raised her rallying cry. “For all that is sweet and sugary!”
“For Celestia’s sake, Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “That’s the harbor pilot!” She grimaced as she heard a loud thump below.
Moments later, a burly brown stallion ascended the ladder and clambered over the railing. “This belong to you?” he asked, indicating the pink shape clinging to his neck.
Twilight sighed and held a hoof up to her face.
“Um… are we going to put this in the letter as well, dear?” Rarity asked, raising a dubious eyebrow.
As Pinkie continued emitting muffled cries of “Yarr,” Twilight could only shake her head.
