When the Everfree Burns

Three Months before the Summer Sun

It was the eve of many dawning horrors in Equestria. In Canterlot, Vizier Fancy Pants was soon to meet the bludgeon of the murderous Iillor, while in Ponyville Twilight Sparkle was laying her head down for what was soon to be the first of many nightmares.
It was a full moon. The dark profile of the Mare in the Moon glared starkly on the luminescent grey of night's harbinger. From Vanhoover to Manehattan, the span of the whole Equestrian continent, the cloudless skies let everypony see her, and for her to watch back; Only in dreams did it rain. Nothing protected the ponies below from the unbridled light of the stars above.

Baltimare, or 'The Free City of Baltimare' as its full title went, was a compact settlement on the alluvial plain of the Crystal River, where it emptied into the broad and shallow Horseshoe Bay. Baltimare was a close third among the prosperous eastern earth pony cities, its economy thriving from its position on river and sea.

Even at night the procession of commerce proceeded apace. The Baltimare docklands burned with the light of hundreds of lanterns to guide ship to mooring, and dock-walloper to warehouse. Goods and creatures of every exotic variety jaunted along the quay, eagerly heading to, or unsteadily returning from, their chosen vices. The grim eyes of bat-winged ponies, predators by vocation more than nature, watched the waterfront flurry of clashing light and shadow from the rooftops, prowling for disorderly conduct, that they could correct unlawful violence with lawful violence.

A pony looking for a quiet life would hate for Baltimare, but the raucous nighttime also had its beautiful angles. In the middle distance, past the dark roofs of Baltimare's residential and workshop districts, the high city walls and stately city hall could be seen as glimpsed mostly as shadow profiles before the sea of stars in the sky. In the harbor a forest of masts bobbed in the swells, like the pikes of a phalanx on the march. And it would be difficult to deny that lonely sailors found a certain beauty in the myriad mortal pleasures that enraptured and captivated them: Sex, drugs, drink, camaraderie.

That last pleasure could be the most dangerous for a lonesome sailor.
Gilda the griffin was one such sailor.

Gilda stood a head taller than most of the ponies beside her, with an eagle’s head of white feathers and a lion’s bronze body. Each of her wings could cast a shadow over an earth pony, and her long leonine tail ever whipped back and forth to smart anypony who drew too close. Her face seemed perpetually twisted into either a sneer or a smirk, as her eagle-like eyes shifted from pony to pony around her. As the supple moonlight guided her ship into port, she clutched the taffrail with impatience, sinking her razor claws into the sturdy wood.

"Golly gosh, the moon sure is bright tonight." The helmspony remarked to the pilot. "Back in my hometown, we had folk stories about living shadows that came out haunting ponies on nights like these."

"Only haunters in the dark 'round Baltimare are you lot. And the prostitutes." The pilot grunted. She deftly steered the cumbersome barque around breakwaters and sandbanks, into the inner harbor. "Douse already! The rowboats will take over."

Gilda stepped back from the rail. No time for dreaming when it was time to work. "Hey! You heard her!" She shouted down to the middle deck. "Furl the fore and main!" The sailors sprang into action, pulling the sails down.
As promised several rowboats and pegasi threw up ropes and began pulling the barque to a spot on a dock. The ship helmspony ran over to begin shouting down at the intrepid rowers, haggling a price for their service.
Gilda remained on the aftercastle with the pilot as they glided closer to the dock. "Nice little system you ponies have here. Quickest turn around in Equestria, nearly. I'm sure the captain would compliment you if he was awake." Gilda said with a slick smile. "Too bad it means we get miserably short shore leave."

"Uh huh." The pilot said, bored. "You don't look like you're carrying a purse, watch."

"The helm has your pay." Gilda's little smile faded, flicking a wing in the helmspony's direction. It was a lie; Gilda did have the pay, but wasn't interested in the hassle. The ship quartermaster had died on the voyage and the other officers like Gilda had been given the responsibilities, much to her chagrin.

When her ship reached a reasonable distance from the mooring, Gilda bounded off and helped tie it down. She was about to leave for the dockland when she heard somepony clearing her throat behind her.
The captain had emerged from the cabin, looking annoyed. He sauntered down the gangplank, standing on its raised edge to be eye-to-eye with Gilda. "I told you to notify me when we enter the channel. I really don't want to have to stick a bosun with you just to remind you of things, Mis Dash."

"Oh." Gilda clacked her beak. "Sorry, sir. I completely forgot, with having to keep a constant eye on things. That pilot was damn shifty."

"Not the worst excuse I've ever heard." Captain Pleiades was an old pegasus stallion, his blueish fur greying around his snout and eyes. He was usually easy going, unless anything went wrong which was often. "Any sign of customs yet?"

Gilda shook her head.

"Good." Pleiades grinned. The gangplank was already pulled out, and the crew had already started moving cargo up to the deck. "We can be out before dawn." He passed her a small coin pouch.

Gilda blinked in surprise, but accepted the pouch. Wasn't he angry at her? "It's my watch, sir."

The captain's stern frown morphed into a softer, if somewhat sarcastic, expression. "I will take it from here and oversee offloading and outfitting. You never take leave, Mis GIlda, never except for when we call at Baltimare." Pleiades nodded towards the city. "You've got something here you actually care about, yeah?"

Gilda glanced away. She was going to flout her responsibilities but now that she was being paid to do so she felt guilty. Then, after giving it a moment's thought, she felt a bit indignant: Maybe the captain had something he was trying to hide or keep away from her. "Yes sir, something like that."

"I know its none of my buisness." Pleiades shrugged. "Loosen up, but keep an eye out. I'll let the second section and Luite out for leave too, and I don't want them in any trouble."

"Uh, If you say so captain." Gilda saluted.

"I do. See you later." Pleiades saluted back, then galloped over to direct the unicorns levitating the cargo around.

With the captain taking charge, there was not much to do without getting in the way. Except- "Hey, hey." Gilda waved down the pilot, standing off to the side looking pissed. "There was a mix-up, sorry. Here's the pay."

"Griffins and their gold." The pilot rolled her eyes. "I was going to rat you assholes out to the harbormaster. Tug my chain again and I won't hesitate."

Gilda dug into the bag the captain had given her and passed the pilot an extra coin. "Get yourself a drink, take a couple other boats if you want, but be back to take us out before dawn."

The pilot inspected the coin, then gave it back. "Whatever, bird. I stay sober on the job."

"Thanks for understanding." Gilda bowed away and headed down the quay, toward the burning lights of the city waterside.

Gilda walked slowly to give herself some time to think, letting stevedores and sailors brush past her in the twilight along the busy quay. The crowds of drunk sailors, thieves, and disreputable mares, of wagons full of cargo heading every which way, and of weary enforcers of various stripe, thinned away the further she went. She went along past the dark and imposing edifices of the Equestrian Oceanic Company office and the Imperial Naval Yards, past the river harbor, to the edge of the workers' district.
Gilda's destination was a narrow stairway into a cellar, hiding a tavern. Despite its low profile a congregation of ponies and sailors hung out at the entrance, smoking and throwing dice- They paid Gilda no mind as she descended into the hazy establishment.
It was thankfully quiet. Most patrons were, like Gilda, trying to get away from the raucous docklands.

Gilda scanned the tables for a moment before she saw the bartender waving her over.
"Oi, bird. Are you Gilda? Your friend stepped out for a bit. The booth over there is hers." The mare pointed to the back of the tavern.

Nodding and heading to the empty booth, Gilda was thankful she had time to sort out her thoughts before she had to be social; even when it was somepony she'd been yearning to see for months, or perhaps especially if it was.
Gilda had been signed to Captain Pleiades's crew for over two years, and it was clear that the old pegasus still didn't completely trust her. It was very discouraging, and Gilda had was under no delusions that sailor work was sustainable for her in the long term. Maybe it was time to quit. Could a creature like her stand to live in peace in a place like Baltimare?

“Hey G!” Gilda heard a familiar somepony. She shot back upright, searching for the source of the voice.
Her coat and wings were a light blue, her eyes were red, and her messy mane was a whole spectrum of color. The pegasus mare had her hoof curled around a flatcap and a drink mug. She pushed her mane away from her face and laughed. "Good to see you."

“Dash!" The griffin beamed. She felt her whole body relax, the stress and salt of a month on the ocean evaporating. "Good to see you too."

Rainbow Dash eased back into her spot across from Gilda. "I was just gunna be gone a minute but there were no purveyors nearby, y'know." Her goofy smile melted into something more genuine. "Sister it's been tough. I hate wondering when you'll be back, G. I've been practically living here the last few nights." Dash took a healthy sip from her mug. "Screw this town."

"You can tell me all about your troubles, in a little while." Gilda picked up Rainbow Dash's mug and sniffed it, clacking her beak in discomfort at how it stung her nostrils. "Would you rather have a fun night together, or would you rather get cup-shotten and forget that you ever saw me tonight?"

Dash laughed shallowly, cordial but a little annoyed. "I'm pretty damn stimulated, G. I had a sugar bowl on my lunch break, and some elfdock about five minutes ago. I'm WIRED." She cackled. "I would have saved you some if it worked on griffins. I'm ready to go no matter what we do tonight. They'll have to carry back to your shitty boat."

"You might say that Dash, but I'll give you a handicap and still out-dance you." Gilda snickered back. She knocked back Dash's drink, immediately having to clasp her own beak shut to keep from hacking it back up. "Mmm!" She pounded the table with her own claw. "Gah! Good god damn, how are you alive drinking that swill for multiple nights in a row?" She sputtered.

"I survived off worse when I still had apprentice pay." Dash snickered. "C'mon! This town won't know what hit 'em!"

"Till it's too late." Gilda agreed.

It was past midnight. Off in Canterlot, the alarm bells extolled the hunt for Fancy Pants's killer, while in Ponyville Twilight Sparkle was ensorcelled by the nightmare.
Baltimare's turn for tragedy was yet approaching.

"The cloud scheduler has it out for me. The factor let 'm get away with all kinds of bullshit! It's so corrupt!" Dash griped drunkenly, kicking at every piece of garbage they passed along the dim waterfront.

Gilda was less drunk, but her head was feeling very strange (stuffy, with a feeling like distant trumpets in a mist were bleating at her) from eating caramelized red ants she'd bought from their last stop. "She's jealous. Can't trust earth ponies. Though Unicorns are even worse. And pegasi are even worse, heh heh." She guided Dash away from the edge of the quay. "But don't go thinking I'm biased toward other creatures. They're all shit too."

"mm, Life is about making the best of bad situations. The most bad situation of them all is life." Dash mumbled, her anger sublimated to subdued aggravation. "I've been surviving in Baltimare, but its just surviving." She sighed. "Y'know, the guild system wasn't perfect, but it had rules. Being stuck as an apprentice weatherpony sucked, but I was about to make the, um, understudy qualifications. I could have made master weatherpony in two years. But, NOW, now its all public-private partnership bureaucratic bullshit! We don't even get the minimum hours like the government-run factories in Canterlot or Manehattan or Cloudsdale." Dash worked herself up again as she vented. "If I had anywhere else that I could see you regularly, I'd leave. I'd leave tonight. Tonight! Buck Baltimare. That's right, fuck Baltimare!" She yelled, attracting judgmental looks from others along the quay. "Buck, I need another drink. Something neat, no chaser."

Gilda clacked her beak, wondering if she had the guts to ask Dash some important questions. "Are you just venting, or are you inviting advice?"

"If you're going to jabber then it should be to, you know, echo me." Dash scoffed. "Yeah, help me tear this place down, verbally."

"Pipe down, especially if you actually want to cause mischief." Gilda said coolly. Even among the bright fur of the Equestrians, Rainbow Dash's chromatic coloration caught attention; It was a small irony that Gilda, so often annoyed at ponies' gaudiness, had the brashest and most colorful of them all as a friend.

"I DO actually want mischief." Dash said back sassily. "I get so pissed sometimes I want to evaporate the whole factory."

"That's the kind of thing you keep to yourself, or at least say quietly." Gilda clucked her tongue, glancing around to see if they were drawing any prying eyes. She didn't want any trouble from the law; Captain Pleiades would leave without her if she got detained and didn't make the cast-off.

"I'm their best weatherpony and they treat me like shit. When it was because of seniority, I could kinda understand it. Now, it's just-" Dash thrashed her head around in unrestrained agitation. "They're reducing us to slaves, taking all our job protection and privileges. There's even rumors they'll completely dissolve the master weatherpony's association, because its cheaper to bring in podunk cloud-kickers from the Riverpony lands! I'm-" She let out a shriek. "So fucking pissed!"

Gilda felt disappointed that Dash would be so reckless with her out-loud thoughts; but then again she knew equines were given to extreme outbursts. She tried to look after her poor, enthusiastic friend, but it was hard to guide and protect when they spent months away from each other. "Calm down Dash."

Rainbow Dash threw Gilda a glare. "You weren't mom-ing me while I was boozing and you were huffing ants. So, don't mom me now. I only ever cut loose when you visit, you know. I bottle up, yeah, because all these other ponies are useless stiffs. I don't wanna have to bottle up around you too, G."

Gilda scratched under her beak, deciding how discreetly she should say what she was thinking. "You've been nothing but bottles up, D."

"Cut that out. Makes me sound... I don't like it." Dash grumbled.

"Okay, you're not that bad." Gilda snickered. She draped her wing back over Rainbow Dash and steered them toward the allies leading deeper into the city. "Let's find a nice place to dry out and get some water. There's this nice park with a well I remember."

"Not so nice at night." Dash mumbled.

"Whatever, it had a nice bench or something." Gilda led them through a break in the blocks of warehouses, navigating with her half-remembered mental map of Baltimare.
Some minutes later, in the middle of a dark alley, Gilda stopped. "Hey, how do you feel."

"Really, I'm a bit pissed at you." Dash said. She looked around the dirty alley. "Yup, pretty little park, eh."

Gilda maneuvered around to in front of her pegasus friend. Standing a head above the mare, Gilda took subtile advantage of her height and leaned over Dash, protective and controlling.
"Dash, you wear your heart on your sleeve, and I admire that. But we've all got problems."

"I've already said I'll bottle up if I have to-"

Gilda interrupted. "Let's cause some damage, Dash. We should tear it up like the good old days."

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "I, we, left that kinda things back in Cloudsdale, G. We agreed." Her voice betrayed her trepidation, but also her temptation.

"Where's the weather station now?" Gilda asked.

Dash averted her eyes, remaining silent, fidgeting like she knew if she spoke she would talk herself into going along with Gilda.

"Come on, Dash. On a night like this, nobody could possibly place you at the scene. Besides, I'm your alibi." Gilda pressed closer. "Haven't you thought about letting those soft-headed functionaries what you think of their 'reforms'? Tonight is the night, Rainbow Dash."

Dash licked her lips, glancing towards the sky. "The weather station... about 300 meters altitude, over the south gate. But there's nothing but tools in there anymore. The new managers have their own cloud, at 400 meters, over the city hall."

Gilda clacked her beak in satisfaction. "Any private security?"

"No. And the watch activity is completely on the waterfront and canals at night." Dash said.

For ponies unfamiliar with griffins, the avian face appeared tragically unsuited to facial emotion, beak eternally downturned. Those more familiar knew all the ways that griffins expressed their angers and delights in ways lips could not replication.
And Gilda was delighted. "Alright Dash. You lead, like old times."

Gulping back all reservations, Dash flew up to the height of the rooftops, alighting on a chimney while she scanned the dark sky. "There." She confirmed to herself- It was a small cloud hovering above the city, around a kilometer away.

Gilda landed on a roof nearby. "I always forget how short these earth pony cities are." She remarked to herself.

Rainbow Dash wordlessly launched into the night, closing the distance to the isolated cloud rapidly. A squat square building, the magic-constrained condensation construction of the pegasi that made water vapor solid if not sturdy, sat on top of the small cumulous drift.

By the time Gilda caught up, Dash had kicked a hole into the wall. "Last chance to back out and still be able to claim it was an accident." Gilda goaded.

Undeterred, Dash ducked into the building. "If I don't get caught I don't need an excuse.."
With a purposeful flap of Rainbow Dash's wings, much of the floor and walls of the room were evaporated.

There was a rustle and the crash of broken glass from an adjacent room. "Ehh?" The muffled voice of a stallion could be heard. There was more rustling.

Rainbow Dash, mortified, froze in place. Gilda rushed past her to the door adjoining to where the voice had come, peering through- A pegasus was lying on the floor, moaning into the soft floor.

"It's some drunk jackass." Gilda chuckled.

"Too drunk to fly? The cloud is dissipating a lot quicker than I thought it would." Dash peaked around Gilda. "Oh crap, that's the factor. My boss's boss. He-" She cut herself off as she felt the cloud under her hoof become more yielding, letting her sink to her ankles. "Oh buck."

The whole cumulous and structure atop was silently disappearing around them. "Think we should save him?" Gilda asked. She could look between her legs and see the spires of the city hall through the thinning floor.

"O- Of course you should! And I should get the hell out of here before he recognizes me! R.D.V. at the park!" Dash bleated. She launched through ingress hole, but her wing sweep only sped up the cloud dissipation.

"T'sh." Gilda sauntered over to the drunk pegasus. The pitiful drunk disgusted her, but his helpless vulnerability... Gilda felt a quake in her heart, imagining closing a talon around his head, imagining pecking his heart out like a mythical bird of prey. The violent fantasy was so entrancing she almost didn't notice him falling through the floor. "Uh oh."
Mid air rescue was a specialist art, but though untrained Gilda was a skilled flier. She dove through the cloud, rapidly overtaking the tumbling pegasus and hooking a leg around his barrel. Her huge wings snapped open, decelerating them into a gentle glide that carried them down to the roof of the city hall.

"H'wuaa, wss." The drunk protested, struggling weakly in Gilda's grasp.
Quills, scrolls, and other pieces of office equipment began to rain down around them. Ponies on the street level began to shout in alarm.

Gilda held on to the pegasus for a few seconds longer than necessary, relishing the sensation of his body heat, before dropping him into a crease in the roof. "Guess what buddy. They're going to find your gin bottles in the debris." She laughed.
Gilda cleared her throat. "Help, help." She said, testing out her deepest, most masculine voice. Then, cupping a talon by her beak, "Help!" She yelled toward the growing crowd of ponies who had been enjoying the night air, now trying to understand the situation. "Help me!"
Satisfied somepony had heard her, Gilda clambered up to the reverse slope of the roof and dropped down into an alley.

While not inconceivable that somepony had seen Rainbow Dash and Gilda silhouetted against the night sky, the evidence of the sodden weather factor being responsible for the cloud office dissipating would be much more compelling. Though there was chance the factor had heard and would remember Dash's voice...
Gilda stopped laughing to herself as she weight the possibility of Dash being identified. The factor would be seen as casting blame, right? Still, wouldn't it be safer to silence him and stop any chance of him bearing such witness? It was probably to late to go back and make it seem like he had died in the fall.

Gilda was still dwelling on whether she had made the right choice when she reached the park. It was very dark in there, with little lantern light nor moonlight penetrating the barrier of foliage. Rainbow Dash was on a bench, watching a couple on kiss by the fountain. "Yo. Your boss's boss is going to be sobering up in a cell, with nopony any the wiser. Ten-outa-ten." Gilda snickered.

Dash did not look amused. "That could have gone really badly. I messed up."

"The only mistake was underestimating your strength. You aired out that building in one flap, D. Walls can't contain you." Gilda clapped her friend on the shoulder. "Are you going to make that mistake again? Are you going to underestimate yourself again? If not, then there's nothing to regret."

"I don't feel regret just-" Dash rubbed her forehead with the back of a hoof. "Why didn't I do that earlier? It was so damn easy." She said roughly. "I took their abuse for so long any never did anything back." She looked Gilda in the eyes. "I feel like I'm on fire, Gilda. I feel like I want to burn the whole city down."

"That's... probably going to be harder than busting one cloud house." Gilda said. "If you feel better, that's good enough for me, but we probably should not jump from avenging petty disagreements to mass atrocity."

"You think I'm petty?" Dash asked.

"I- I-" Gilda stuttered. She DID think Dash was petty.

Dash hopped off the bench. "I'm just kidding." She stretched. "Bolting out of there, afraid, I flew faster than I have in a while. Not tonight, but next time you're in port, we should race, you know, if we're still living out things like we did back in Cloudsdale."

"Yeah." Gilda agreed. She noticed Dash kept looking back at the snogging couple. "C'mon, let's go back to the waterfront. We deserve something after that little adventure."

With Rainbow in higher spirits, the stroll along the quay was much more pleasant this time. They revisited the proprietor again and Gilda got another bag of red ants, while Dash bought a cider.
"Heym ho, above those crystal waters, A knight takes up the flag. So sad for her daughter, But even sadder for the clan." Dash sing-songed, taking sips of sider between verses. "Hey, ho, hey falcons! Fly above the mountains, forests and valleys. Ring those holy bells that beckons, my little plains grey-eye."

"That song bucking sucks." Gilda remarked, popping another ant in her mouth.

"This yokel at work sings it. He's from the north, like around Crystal Falls. I think it sounds better in the original language, Prancian or something." Dash protested.

"So why don't you sing it in Prancian." Gilda prodded.

Dash rolled her eyes. "Because I don't speak it dumbass. If I tried to do it phonetically it'd sound even worse."

"You live in a multicultural city and you don't learn even a single other language. Typical equestrian." Gilda downed the rest of the ants, not caring that she spilled some, and threw the leaf wrapping into the water. "You might have heard this one before." She cleared her throat. "Oh, how is it possible that you can leave me! I love you with all my heart, believe that please! You have my soul stolen so wholly, that I love no one else but you solely!" She grinned. "The next part doesn't translate so well. It's about being a Gull griff instead of a falcon or hawk."

"That wasn't any better. Translate that yourself with your fancy education? Do you get to use it a lot as fourth watch on a leaky trading tub?" Dash shot back.

Gilda didn't bother to point out that West Griffonian was her native language; Dash knew and was making fun of her. "I have plenty of stimulating conversations with the captain. He's a learned stallion."

"From what you told me it sounds more like he's a trumped-up smuggler that pretends to be a above-board merchant trader." Dash said.

"It's complicated okay, but that doesn't mean anything about how much he knows or how smart he is." Gilda said. "This world is full of dumbasses, and he's not one of them."
Gilda was about to say more when she spotted somepony familiar: A foam-grey earth pony, wearing a dirty bandana and a ragged jacket, holding a wooden drinking mug, sitting on the quay in front of them. "Speaking of dumbasses..." Head light from the ants, Gilda was feeling indiscreet, and the throb in her heart pushed her to fulfill the violent fantasies she had differed at the city hall.

"Uh, speaking of what, G?" Dash glanced back to see her friend fixated on the earth pony. "Uh, what's up?"

"Another officer on the Seapony’s Pride. Third mate." Gilda clacked her beak in agitation.

The earth pony did not look at the two approaching figures. "I know that sound anywhere." He grunted, nursing his mug. "It's your watch, Mis Gilda. You should be on deck, but instead you let Captain Pleiades take over from you. It's not that hard to load and unload cargo when its arranged in advance. Even you can do it. So why did you let the captain waste his time overseeing a job you should be doing?"

"Don't know. Why's you head lodged in your intestines." Gilda leaned over the pony's shoulder.

The earth pony looked up at Gilda, then down to Rainbow Dash. "Hello lov-ely lady. You can call me Luite, gentlepony officer on Seapony’s Pride, chartered vessel of her highness's merchant marine." He waved his bandana at her as though doffing a cap. "Don't tell me you keep this brute as company."

"She does, actually." Gilda grunted.

"I do, actually." Rainbow Dash confirmed.

Luite squinted as though he was doing math in his head. "You don't look like whore so you mean actually, actually. Damn Mis Gilda. I wouldn't have guessed you had it in you." He sipped from his mug. "I'm piecing together why the captain took the watch."

Gilda tensed. "Is that the way you talk to a 'lovely lady', you damn mongrel? Apologize to her."

Luite's sly smile flattened. "Mis Gilda, sweet Mis Gilda, I fucking outrank you. You can boss around a helm or boatswain, but not me."

"I don't boss around-"

"And that's your issue, Mis Gilda. You have a pathetically light touch with the ratings, but are a damn hothead about your superiors. Superiors like me." Luite stood up. "You should be apologizing to me."

Since the stallion still only came up to her beak, Gilda could effectively glare down on Luite, unblinking. "After you give yours."

Luite took another sip. "Mmmm." He faced Dash. "My lady, I never even got your name, and yet I'm torn up about my careless words. I said something I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, my lady-"

"Rainbow Dash." Dash said.

Luite arched a brow. "My lady Rainbow Dash. So, so sorry." He scratched his chin. "Ever lived on the west coast? Your name is familiar kinda."

Dash was stone-faced.

"Well, fine." Gilda coughed into her claw and cleared her throat. "In your capacity of third mate you merit more respect than I gave you, sir. Sorry."

Luite looked tempted to argue but just shrugged. "Fine, whatever. You can leave me alone now. Or actually-" He nodded toward Dash. "You can show me where you bought that cider. It smells something lovely and this swill-" He dropped the mug and watched it break, his drink foaming at his hooves. "Was piss."

"How about you quit talking to my friend. I don't think she appreciates it." Gilda stepped between the ponies.

"How about you get out of my space, Mis Gilda. I have a pistol and I'm slightly tipsy. Don't get in my way again." Luite sighed.

Gilda stood stock-still. "Why you little-"

"Sir, it's no trouble. In fact, you can have my cider." Dash stepped around Gilda and offered her bottle. "The glass is nice and everything."

"That it is, my lady." Luite accepted the bottle with a bow. "But now I have to buy you a new one. Please, I insist you show me where you got it." He glanced to Gilda. "You should lead the way, fourth mate."

Silently, Gilda began walking up the quay, then led them into the alleys.

"You're very kind, sir. Too kind." Dash laughed hollowly. What was going on? Had she heard right, that the stallion had a gun?

"Is it this right way? You sure, Mis Gilda?" Luite regarded the alleys they crossed through with skepticism.

"It's a stall at this park with a fountain. Maybe you've been there." Gilda said.

"Maybe I have." Luite nudged Rainbow Dash. "Is that where it is, hon?"

"Yes, we got my drink and Gilda's ants from the park." Dash lied. What was happening? Dash was getting anxious.

That anxiety skyrocketed as Gilda began to slow her pace, making little calming motions. "Dash, that couple we saw earlier... Don't make any sudden moves, but they've been following us for half-an-hour. They're closing in behind us." She said in a desperate hiss. "Slow and steady."

"The fuck?!" Luite spun around, yanking a flintlock out of his jacket and aiming it down the alley at any would be stalker jumper- If there had been one.
Before he knew it, he felt pain. Gilda had knocked Dash aside and grappled Luite, closing a claw around his muzzle, hooking her other front leg around his neck, and biting down on his ankle with her beak. With a muffled shriek Luite dropped his gun and bucked wildly, but Gilda only secured herself tighter with a hindleg around his waste, where with the paw lodged against the bottom of his ribcage she began to squeeze and wrestle the stallion to the dirty ground.

Dash looked on from the garbage pile she'd fallen into, horrified.

Satisfied she had control of the stallion's head with the muzzle-claw grasp, Gilda used her other claw to knock the gun away out. Releasing her beak from Luite's leg, she laughed in manic aggravation at his attempt to beat her off of him. Gilda could feel his heart race, and so did hers. "My good sir, I think it'd be-hoove you to apologize to me, actually. Ha ha!" She nipped him, making Luite thrash all the harder not just at the pain but at the prospect of being pecked to death. "Are you going to help me out Dash?" But seeing her friend's distress, Gilda knew she had to see this one out alone. "Okay Dash. Close your eyes."

Rainbow Dash did more than that, shoving her face into the garbage and pushing her ears flat with her hooves. That didn't keep her from sensing the carnage unfolding a meter away, nor seeing the plaintive, desperate afterimage of Luite's eyes, as he had begun to realize that this was not the first time Dash had seen Gilda's claws around a pony's neck. She tried imagining anything else but the vision remained.
Dash began to smell blood, and the vibration in the air and ground stopped.

Next think she knew, Gilda was gently guiding Rainbow Dash into a sitting position. Panting, shaking a bit but less than Dash, Gilda sat beside her friend in the garbage as she caught her breath. "Whew! Damn! He talked big, didn't he. Bet he felt like a big boy with the mouse in his pocket. Dumbass didn't even have his flint cocked, and thought he could bring a gun-" She held up a shaky blood-soaked talon. "To a knife fight."

Slowly regaining her own breath, Dash felt despair wash over her. "What, the fuck. G..." She took a calming breath. "I think even dumbasses would know better than to leave a body around, visibly mutilated by a griffin, when he'd been walking down the waterfront five minutes earlier with a griffin he'd been in an argument with. I'd think that."

"Yeah that's a fair point." Gilda sniffled. She rested for a few more seconds and stood up. "The fake out with the couple was pretty hot though, right?"

"I get that you're high on ants, but you've just RUINED us. As in, this could be it, forever. You committed murder, Gilda. This is, like, impossible to spin."

Gilda was slightly thrown off by Dash's persistent worry. "Dash, why do you think he was pulling us into a dark part of town? You have no idea what this stallion is, was, capable of. A degenerate male with a gun, could have killed or raped us both."

"You led us this way, away from the crowds. You wanted to kill him." Dash accused.

Gilda took a moment to smooth out some ruffled feathers as she thought. "Well... didn't you Dash? He called you a whore."

"He said something close, yeah, but I don't kill everypony-" Dash stood up. "Kill everypony that makes me feel bad. That is deranged, and it always has been."

"But you did strike at them. You busted that cloud, destroyed property that wasn't yours, illegally, because it made you feel better, or you thought it was justified, or whatever. You wanted them to hurt, like you were hurting, because that made your hurts hurt less. Isn't burning down a city deranged?" Gilda shot back. "You heard what this asshole said to me. If he didn't kill me tonight, it would be tomorrow night, when I'm alone in my bunk, or the night after that. Why would I ever suffer to let a creature that hates me so much, who disrespects me so much, retain power over me? A jackass like him doesn't deserve to be over me, and while I can't unilaterally demote him, I can unilaterally kill him."

"No you can't. You needed me." Dash said.

Gilda strangely found she couldn't find the words to refute that. "Whatever." She glanced back at the gruesome remains. "Well, his ass is mostly intact so if we can't completely cover him in the garbage that's the best quarter to stick out."

Dash scoffed, exasperated. "You're not going to, you know..."

Slowly, with deliberate eroticism, Gilda sniffed at the blood on her talons. "Tangy." But seeing Dash shiver more, Gilda let her claw droop and played it off as a joke. "No. I didn't do it because I'm hungry. I'm not high either. I told you, this was basically self defense. He was probably a freaky rapist so there's no telling the kinds of parasites and diseases in him. And he definitely had scurvy or anemia or something. It's, you know, distasteful." She sighed. "So you going to help me move him or what?"

Half-an-hour later, Gilda and Rainbow Dash had made it back to the park. The snogging couple were gone, leaving them alone in the dark space. Convenient, Gilda thought, as she bathed herself in the fountain.

After the panic had cleared, Rainbow Dash felt... she wasn't sure how she felt. It felt so much like old times back in Cloudsdale, two young troublemakers on days-long benders, getting in fights and menacing the nimbus neighborhoods. Except she was now a grown mare with a job, and there was a dead body. "What are we going to do, G?"

"Eh, I have about an hour before I have to get back to the ship. We could get some food." Gilda hummed, splashing her face with the fountain water.

That kind of nonchalance bordered on reckless. Unpredictable consequences were sure to come, in days or weeks, that would find and ruin their lives, Dash was sure.
"Hobos piss in there." Dash said, her annoyance with Gilda manifesting as a sullen tone.

"Smelling like I peed myself is easier to explain than blood." Gilda said.

"Of course I know that, but I'm trying to make you feel bad about your life choices." Dash huffed.

"Don't get me started on my regrets and I won't get you started on yours, sister." Gilda said.

"Yeah... I guess that's fair." Dash laid her head back, trying to see the stars through the park canopy. "I never asked you how things were going with you. Earlier, I was bitching relentlessly. You didn't shut me down; You helped me get even. I did nothing in return, not even listen."

"Hey, you've got it a lot tougher here than I do out on the high seas." Gilda said.

"Apparently not when you've got hater rapists on your ship." Dash retorted. "Are things really fine? Because, you know, if I'd suspected even a little you were going to maul Luite I wouldn't have gotten so shook up."

"I get into arguments, but I'm watch officer at the dead of night so the crewponies fall in line or risk waking up the captain. They'd rather obey." Gilda shrugged, carefully preening down her leg feathers to wash the last of the blood splatter off of herself. "I think I'm going to get promoted to quartermaster."

"Not third mate?" Dash nettled. "Don't tell me you got rid of your quartermaster too."

Gilda did not even think to be defensive about the accusation. She just shook her head. "No she got ill, and fever took her. I've already been carrying those duties. Captain Pleiades keeps costs low and that includes hiring costs. Officers all come up from the ratings."

"But you're not, like, in danger for you life. Not anymore, right?" Dash asked.

"I am free and clear." Gilda confirmed.

Dash let out a long sigh. She was ready to believe that Gilda had not killed Luite to profit off of it. The alternative was that Gilda had taken him seriously as a threat to their lives. Maybe he really had been planning to hurt them.

"Actually, I do have one problem." Gilda said. She hopped out of the fountain and joined Dash on the bench. "I miss you. I just... I worry about you in these long stretches where we don't see each other, while I'm out there and you're back here."

"Adorable." Dash snorted.

"It's not. I get concerned because, well, every time I see you you're worse. Is busting one cloud going to save your state of mind? You're drinking more and talking less. Doesn't make me happy." Gilda said. "I wish I could do more for you."

"Woah, G, I'm perfectly sane. I'm not always sober but what's that hurt. I don't need saving." Dash wrinkled her nose.

Gilda nudged Dash, trying to get the mare to look her in the eye. "Are you going to let yourself languish in Baltimare forever? Unless you think you solved your job trouble with that cathartic vandalism, weather work is only going to get tougher and less rewarding."

"The office politics sucks but I never said it wasn't rewarding. I'm the best they have up there. I can stop or soften the squalls that nopony else can. When I fly the whole continent gets good weather." Dash said.

"Are you ever going to get the recognition you deserve though? Do you have advancement opportunity? No?" Gilda pressed. "Then either you let tonight be the limit of your pride and you abide, you keep attacking and force them to terms, or you look for something better."

"Keep attacking? Like, keep vandalizing and destroying weather factory property?" Dash idly messed with a curl of her mane. "I... can't. The anxieties and nightmares, having to look over my shoulder... This is not the life I wanted when we agreed I'd settle down in Baltimare."

It was dawning on Gilda that Dash was not going to let go of her hang-up about Luite. "So?"

"So?" Dash echoed.

"Are you going to leave? Look for opportunities in another Free City? Or go back to Cloudsdale?" Gilda asked. "Or you could become a vagabond weatherpony, traveling the country. Our traveling days were the best we ever had, because if anypony gives you some BS, you just kick their ass and leave town." She grinned.

Dash didn't say anything.

"Or something else. Anything else. A better life anywhere in Equestria. I just-" Gilda sighed. "If I let you drink yourself to death in a dead-end cloud-kicking job I'd never forgive myself. Hell, I'd kill myself too. So, you have to promise you'll improve yourself and this situation, Dash. Please."

Dash kept staring up into the sky.

"Yo, Dash." Gilda nudged the mare.

"What if Luite really was innocent, and was going to buy me a drink? What if his flintlock wasn't loaded." Dash pondered. "How would that make you feel?"

"Dash, don't do this to yourself." Gilda grunted.

"And did you really catch Hailstrom's fall? Am I going to hear about my factor being splattered over the city hall clocktower tomorrow?" Dash gave Gilda a knowing look. "You want to save me so bad you aren't thinking about your own issues."

"Okay, sure, I'll let you deflect." Gilda curled a wing around the mare, pulling her a little closer. "I'll be upfront and honest. Things aren't perfect, but when have they ever been? I feel..." She paused, as though remembering something. "I feel the past catching up with me." She dug her talons into the bench slightly. "Not in the real world, but in my dreams. It's nothing to do with us, you know, in the Cloudsdale days. But even older stuff from before we met."

"Okay." Dash said.

The muted response made Gilda worry. "Hey, it's got me stressed but it's nothing to worried about." Gilda insisted. "There's nothing threatening my life anymore."

Dash hopped off the bench. "Don't wig out. I get it. It's been a while since I had any nightmares. I think it's because life has stressed me enough. But you're life's been okay, but your brain refuses to accept that, so it throws all sorts of frightening things at you. I hear it happens to ponies who get back from the colonial wars.

"Griffins don't suffer from that kind of prey psychology. I said it was nothing to worry about." Gilda lingered for a moment longer, then followed Dash. "You, though-" She laughed at herself. "You're right, I do want to save you."

"I love that for you but I kinda wonder if I should save myself, and you yourself." Dash shook her head.

"Hey!" Gilda grabbed at Dash, catching her hindleg. "You're not taking me seriously!"

"Gilda, that hurts!" Dash squirmed, trying not to fall over.

Gilda immediately let go, and discovered that she'd dug her talons in a little too hard. Rainbow had shallow cuts around her knee. "Oh I... Dash I'm so sorry." She stared at the film of blood on her claw. "After I just bucking washed."

"It's fine." Dash whispered, eyes distant. "I know you just want what's best for me."
They were both silent, and the sounds of the nighttime city, of the din of the distant waterfront, filled the air between them.

Gilda slowly, slowly, brought the talon closer, her eyes fixated on the blood. She licked it. "You taste great, Dash." She let the claw drop, and ground the talon into the grass to wipe the blood off. "You think I can only drag you to the past. That's not true. It's so not true." Gilda said. "Join me on the ship. The Seapony's Pride is under-crewed, and there's zero chance of finding new ratings tonight."

Dash squirmed. "I know we talked about the possibility last year. I still don't know how it could work."

"At that time there were few openings and plenty of unemployed sailors. Now your lack of experience doesn't matter. Sure, you might not get full pay for the first few months, but if I get promoted I can support you easily; Not just with rations but with the crew. You're twice as capable as any of the pegasi we have. I'm certain Captain Pleiades will take a shine to you too."

Dash took in Gilda's rambling with pensive agitation. "You weren't kidding. You want me to quit Baltimare."

"I do. You were saying the same thing earlier." Gilda said.

"I was, probably still am, inebriated. Don't listen to me." Dash fidgeted.

Gilda shrugged. "Okay Dash, okay. You win." She looked off to a point in the sky, pretending to contemplate something. "I'm running low on time anyway. The Seapony's Pride will be leaving soon. I need to shift into work mode, you know."
Gilda was nearly knocked onto her hindquarters by Rainbow Dash biffing her on her shoulder with a wing. "Hey!"

"You don't have to manipulate me. I didn't say I wasn't, you know, interested at all. I just need a few minutes to convince myself " Dash growled. "I've been so chained into the weatherpony routine. I let my sense of adventure atrophy. I..." She bared a toothy, flat smile. "Actually actually, I dreamed about this day. Well, this night. I can't wait to leave. I only wish I could torch this whole town, this whole country, before I leave."

Gilda tried to hide her joy but couldn't. "We still have a few minutes before cast off."

"Shut the hell up and lead me to the waterfront." Dash rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have some belongings to get from the barracks, or saved money?" Gilda asked.

"Yeah but, like, it's really not much. If I leave it maybe the factory will think I died and not look around for me. There's less of a chance my name comes up in connection to the stuff we did tonight." Dash said.

Gilda couldn't fault that logic. If it made Dash feel better, then a couple bits and bobs could be spared. "Excellent point. Let's get on then."

From out of the east, clouds had crept over the full moon, plunging the Baltimare waterfront in inky blackness. The lanterns and torches still shining made little clearings of existance in a land of darkness. It was late, and even indecent ponies had begun to stagger home or go back to their ship. Those who had nowhere to go sheltered in place.
Unless the weatherponies were on their game, storms would be breaking over the continent by noon.

Urging his unicorns on, Pleiades counted and marked the last few crates to be loaded. So close to being done, the worry about being caught grew. "Leave the rest against the forecastle. We'll drop it in the hold later." He checked his pocket watch. "If the sun comes up and we're still here I'm going to get the bullwhip, gentleponies! Chop chop!"

Dash slowed down as she approached the gangplank, her nerves acting up. What was she going to say? What if she got recognized in a bad way?

Pleiades noticed the nervous looking pegasus haunting his dock frontage. "Hey, you." He leaned over the balustrade taffrail, waving a wing at her. "You need something, pal? I you're looking for the stuff, I already sold it, so tough luck."

Rainbow Dash kicked at the ground. "Uhh-"

Gilda stepped in front of her. "She's with me, captain."

"With you? So you're drawing out your goodbye, hmm? Don't let it get in the way." Pleiades chortled. He checked his watch again. "You're just in time Mis Gilda. I'll keep the con as we navigate out but you can take over from the pilot. We have a few ponies still coming in, but we are casting off imminently."

"Thanks captain, glad you waited for me. But..." Gilda flew flew up and perched on the rail. "I'd like to bring my friend on. She can cloud bust, she can scout, and I can teach her anything she needs to be taught."

Pleiades stared at the pegasus, incredulous. "Huh." He looked back to Rainbow Dash. "Completely unsatisfied with the ladies at the other ports, Mis Gilda? I sympathize, but this is buisness." He waved Dash over with a wing. "Come on up mis."

Dash joined Gilda on the rail. "Hi." After sharing an encouraging look with Gilda she hopped down to the deck. "I'm Rainbow Dash, sir."

Pleiades looked Dash over, eyes lingering particularly on her wings. "Mis Gilda seems to think you can fly."

"I can, sir." Dash nodded.

"That's good. But this isn't a line of work that ponies get into because it's easy or lucrative. Ponies aren't retiring after single trips of holds full of gold and spices these days. We do bulk commodities. We do low risk trips. When insurance is due, we move a little bit of duty-free, if you know what I mean." Pleiades said. "Are you okay with that?"

"Yes sir." Dash nodded.

"We do six-hour watches. We run light so you'd have one officer per watch right now. My first mate, Torer, is first watch. I handle second watch. Third mate Luite, unless he jumped ship tonight, is third. Mis Gilda here is fourth watch." Pleiades looked like he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Gilda, do you want to stay on the watch or do you want quartermaster? After thinking it over I was considering putting Walnut on."

"What does Torer and Luite think?" Gilda asked.

Pleiades scoffed. "Torer is asleep but you know she'll agree so why even ask? Luite might bitch but none of his pet bosuns are officer material. I want your thoughts, unless, inexplicabl,y you don't want the responsibility?"

"Wal is a good kid. He'd be great on fourth, or even third watch." Gilda said with a little bow.

Pleiades nodded. "Excellent. I hope we can keep you on quartermaster. The more we can fill from the bottom at the cheaper ports around Sahella and Zebrastan, the better. We'll be talking about this kind of thing a lot, with your new responsibilities." He nodded towards the hatch. "Starting now, stowage and gangplank discipline is all you- Double check we're fit out for the leg to Clawstantinople. Keep the fourth tonight like we agreed, but start getting Walnut up to speed."

"Aye captain." Gilda saluted. She leaned to Dash's ear. "Stay lose, D. We've done it."

Watching Gilda disappear below decks, Pleiades looked Dash over one more time. "Mis Gilda touted your cloud busting, so I'm guessing you're a weatherpony."

"The best." Dash said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"That's good except you don't exactly look made for heaving sheets and anchor chains. Understandable. Neither was I. This puts me in a dilemma about where to place you since I'm ship shape on topmares and mastmares." Pleiades hummed to himself, thinking. "It would be tremendously bad taste if I couldn't enlist you. Mis Gilda may, in all seriousness, kill me. Ha ha ha! Say, you've known her longer, so do you think Mis Gilda would chose you, or me?"

What the hell kind of power play was this guy trying with a question like that? "Gilda thinks pretty highly of you." Dash said, head cocked slightly. "But I'm pretty sure she'd do like you said and kill you. No offense, sir."

"Ah ha ha, yes, I thought so." Pleiades laughed. "Are you a good pony, Mis Dash? Are you a pony of principles? Faith?"

"Yes sir." Dash lied.

That seemed to satisfy Pleiades. "Of course, of course. Yes, well, you can come on as scout, quartermaster's mate, and topmare. The quartermaster and second mate will arrange your billet and watch section." His grin flattered. "Unless my third mate turns up you'll be coming to me for the purse. If you do a good job that is. Good to meet you Mis Dash, but get on already. I have a cast off to organize."

"Aye aye." Dash saluted.

A Few Days Later

Seven days out from Baltimare, and the Seapony’s Pride was making good time for Griffany. The endless ocean, from horizon to horizon, had struck Rainbow with a melancholy she could not explain, but also a profound sense of relief. The cares and worries of the old world were falling away. The weight of her life there, which had built and built until it felt like it was crushing her, lifted.
She couldn't be more thankful to Gilda for negotiating her acceptance onto the crew. To do their harsh timetable, Captain Pleiades could not afford to wait for missing crew members. It was at the last moment, offhand, that Gilda had mentioned bringing Dash on. If the captain suspected anything, he didn't say anything. Sailors disappeared into bars and whorehouses all the time.

But life on the open seas was not sunshine and rainbows, as Rainbow very quickly discovered.
Most prominently, her stomach disagreed violently with the swelling seas. It had made her so ill that most days she flew just above the carrack. Captain Pleiades, being a wiry pegasus himself, let Rainbow fly as long as her duties on the ship were fulfilled. Gilda accommodated her friend, and picked up slick since she had only modest task herself.

Rainbow also flew to avoid the rest of the crew of the Seapony’s Pride. Furtive they were not, and they made their displeasure at her presence known. The captain's pet giriffin had been getting away with too much, and to them Dash was culpable. Dash did not deal well with the taunts and insults, especially since Gilda had warned her against starting a fight.

At night, Rainbow had taken to sharing Gilda’s roost on the crow's nest. When the weather was clear they were treated to a beautiful and star-speckled sky. They were far away from the ponies on the deck or in the rigging, but the downside was that the most gentle sway got translated into violent rocking in the nest. Thankfully, Rainbow was a sound sleeper.

Sleep she did. The guilt and nightmares of Equestria did not follow her.

By two weeks, Rainbow was able to stand on the deck all day without becoming ill. Whether she wanted to, with hostile ponies surrounding her was another question, but she now was able to complete all her responsibilities. Gilda began to instruct Rainbow in swordfighting with a cutlass, in case trouble found them in Griffin waters.

"Gilda!" One of the sailors yelled from the rigging. "When are you going to do your damn job?!"

"Has the tack changed? Has the wind changed?" Gilda sneered back at him. "No? Then stop bothering me!"

A couple of moans and jeers came back at her from the rigging, but they died off quickly.

"Am I keeping you from something G?" Dash asked.

"Nah. fourth watch Quartermaster is never a very taxing job, especially in Spring seas." Gilda shrugged. "Unless these assholes cause trouble."

"Okay..." Dash scooped up her dropped cutlass with a wing. "Um again?"

"Of course again! Here's what you did wrong that time..."

The halfway mark point of the voyage found the Seapony’s Pride in doldrums. The long periods of inactivity left Rainbow time to fly again, this time with Gilda. Once in a while, the captain joined them, and Rainbow found him to be more than just a hardass sailor.

Captain Pleiades was a colt in his mid fifties, a gaunt and salty pegasus. His mane, tail, and eyes were a speckled white, his mark a circle of tiny stars. His coat had been a deep blue, but was now bleached to a cyan near to Rainbow’s.

At a young age, Pleides had followed the pegasus tradition of striking out on his own. He’d had found his way to Los Pegasus, and joined the Western Fleet of the Imperial Navy. He’d served as a navigator for twenty-five years. He’d fought changeling pirates at the height of their power in the South Seas War, navigated through the perilous veils of mist separating Sahella Ocean from Zebrastan Sea, and had borne witness to the EOC invasions of Hornzhou and Manegalore.

The Seapony’s Pride was an old ship that had been in Pleiades’s fleet, but it was retired near the same time he was. It took the sum of his earnings in the navy as well as a number of loans for Pleiades to buy the Seapony, but he’d earned it back quickly as an independent merchant in the eastern oceans. He was not business savvy, but compensated with record-breaking runs and a good reputation.

Rainbow leaned a respectable amount about oceanic weather patterns from the old sailor. By the time the winds picked up again, she’d taken on a new job helping the ship’s navigator with meteorological considerations.

Week four found the Seapony’s Pride entering passing the outlying archipelagos of Griffany. They were not islands so much as enormous pillars, spires of black rock topped with vegetation. They reminded Rainbow of the mountainous mesas under Cloudsdale. Here too, it seemed, the mesas were inhabited. Griffins watched the intruding ship pass from high atop their roosts.

“The islanders think they’re so much better than the mainlander griffins.” Gilda explained over a lunch of slightly stale biscuits in the crow’s nest. “They think the mainlanders have been polluted by pony culture and ideology. So they absolutely hate the pony traders. Luckily they don't want to pick a fight today.”

Rainbow had slung up a small hammock, and was laid back in it. “Are the mainlanders the same or different from the highlanders you told me about last week?”

“Highlanders are a variety of mainlander.” Gilda took a bite out of her biscuit. “If you’ll indulge me, I think you’d find griffin history fascinating. But I’ll warn you Dash, I like to talk, and this happens to be a subject I know a lot about.”

Dash shrugged. “I couldn't stop you if I wanted to. You love to show off your education.”

Gilda threw her friend a sour look, but launched into a lecture anyway. “Mainlanders are a pretty diverse group, but can be divided based on where they live. The highlanders, or Falcons, are the griffins who still live up in the mountains, divided into clans and following the ancient ways. They’re kinda like the islanders out here, but way more confrontational.”

“Reminds me of the highland unicorns who live in Foal.” Rainbow noted.

"Pshh, I guess. Comparing pony and griffin cultures doesn't alway's mean they line up one to one. Ponies care a lot more about pride and honor. Griffins, even chiefs and nobles, care about money." Gilda rubbed her talons like she was rubbing coins against each other. "A thousand years of unity has changed pony cultures in many ways. You'd have to ask a sociologist about more details on that."

"I thought you were telling me about griffins, not ponies." Dash said slyly.

"You brought it up." Gilda stuck out her tongue.
"Back on topic, every region of Griffany has a unique culture. Where we're headed, Clawstantinople, is inhabited by the southerners, sometimes called Terns. Not many know this but the Tern originally lived way in the east, but migrated to west coast during the fall of Roan. That was a thousand years ago but they're still not well regarded in Western Griffany." Gilda chuckled. "I have to admit, Terns get on my nerves too, but they've been getting pretty rich off of trade with Equestria these last few years."

"They must be doing something right, since that's where we're headed." Dash nodded.

"Clawstantinople's prosperity's as much a fluke of geography as anything else, but the Terns do keep it safe from corsairs and the constant EOC-GOC trade wars." Gilda agreed.
“Since I’ve mentioned trade war I suppose the coastals, or Egrets, are next. The Egrets are a very strange bunch, and this is coming from a half-Egret. They are almost like the unicorns: Dabble in magic, avoid open hostility, but still hold themselves superior to everyone else."

"And you said comparisons to ponies were wrong." Dash said.

"I said they were hit-or-miss, you bothersome pony."

"Fine, continue."

"I don't need your permission." Gilda squawked in mock anger.
"Anyhow... The Egrets. I'll tell you, I never came away from a conversation with an Egret upset, but always uncertain. They live in the coastal plains alongside the Prench and the colonial ponies up in Trottingham, but their base of power is Anterpwren in the lowlands. The Griffin Oceanic Company operates from there, so this ship steers well clear of those seas.”

“GOC doesn’t like independent traders.” Rainbow surmised.

“Not so much, no.” Gilda confirmed. “They have a habit of funding privateers and seizing ships that anchor in their ports.”

“Wow. So who else is there?”

“A bit further east of the Egrets are the Kestrels, or midlanders. They’re a bit of a hybrid of Falcon and Egret culture, industrious and aggressive. They have evolved past clans, but are still divided into a hundred little kingdoms and states in the forests where they live. The Gull islanders sometimes trade with the Kestrels because they give proper respect to a griffin’s privacy. You know, my dad was a Kestrel."

"So you're, like, half Egret you said. That means your mom's an Egret? I remember you telling me she wasn't around much." Dash said, but her levity drained away when she saw how much discomfort her question caused Gilda. "I, uh, shouldn't have asked."

"Sorry for bringing it up. I get too comfortable around you that I forget my own triggers. I'll just remind you that the creature that called me her daughter was not my mother. We can leave that discussion at that." Gilda cleared her throat. "Okay, let's stop going on tangents. Talking about griffins; I'm still keeping your attention here, right? You get everything so far?"

"Yup." Dash lied.

“Great. Second to last. The eastern border of Griffin civilization are the Grouse, a friendly if isolated bunch. They’re a bit backwards, but it’s mostly because no traders venture that far inland. Many moose and deer migrated that way when the Kestrels started asserting themselves more over the midland, so the eastern reaches is diverse second only to the Egret lands. The Grouse don’t have much of a centralized society, just a bunch of villages in the hills.
“Now I saved the worst for last-”

“Worse how?” Rainbow interrupted to ask.

“Worst to explain.” Gilda snorted. “The situation in the far east in hard to explain to a pony because you haven’t had the same kind of turmoil that we have. When the ponies of Equestria first arrived hundreds of years ago, all the griffins lived like the Gulls and the Falcons-”

“Remind me who those were again.” Rainbow said.

Gilda scowled. “Gulls are islanders, Falcons are highlanders.” She resumed her story. “We were disorganized and standoffish bunch. The Prench and Frisian ponies started trading across the oceans and we weren’t, meaning they started accruing wealth and we started losing ground. At their height, the Prench were even a force to match Equestria.
“But then some of us got wise, set aside the petty squabbles, and found the value in ties with ponykind. Garl the Martin, the Eagle of Boseburg, crushed Prance at the zenith of their power and founded the first griffin nation. Within a generation, a hundred years of occupation was reversed. Garl’s griffins were the ancestors of the Egrets, the first of the ‘new griffins’."

"So you're a 'new griffin'." Dash teased.

"If I'm not wearing a kilt and screaming in some indecipherable accent, I'm a 'new griffin'." Gilda confirmed with a sassy stroke down her body. "My ancestors were among the first to descend from the mountains with Garl. Some griffins love stroking themselves off talking about their glorious highland ancestry, but-"

"Yeah, like you don't have things you're overly proud of."

"Are you going to let me finish the damn narrative or not? The point I was trying to make, is that the question of old versus new is still very fresh in our minds. The clans were, for the most part, meritocracies. Power went to the strongest and fastest chieftain, who could lead the clan to victory. But the new griffins needed constancy and central authority to lead them through the change, and the monarchies were born. In some places, particularly former Prench lands, griffins even adopted pony-style feudalism.
“But the wars for survival are over, and the need for a king or queen has passed. Griffins want a return to meritocracy, but the new nobility is unwilling to give it. Anterpwren shook off their queen a couple decades ago, but the nobles still share power with the merchants of the GOC. Clawstantinople actually started as a republic, but the Terns have always been a progressive bunch, probably a reaction to their ostracization."

"It might be rude to say but I've noticed Griffins have trouble talking there problems out." Dash said.

"When both sides think they have more to gain from violence, there will be violence. And, in the far east, it has come to that. The far eastern reaches never felt the effects of Prench expansionism, and never faced the threats that pushed the western griffins to evolve. The land is barren, and population centers scarce, unified in disunity for most of history. However, they still felt the change in their brethren indirectly.
“The far east is almost like a dumping ground for society's undesirables. The monarchist exiled the republicans there, and so too did the republicans to the monarchists. Slowly, the exiles have been gathering power, forming two distinct camps. The western griffin kings have been sending troops and advisors to their potential allies out in the wastes, and so have the GOC. Unwilling to fight each other directly, the nations of Griffany are spending the blood of the impoverished far-easterners.”

Gilda concluded her grand treatise, and looked to Rainbow expecting questions.

"Wow Gilda. You've always been so good at explaining things. You'd make a good professor!" Dash said. It was hard to tell if she was being sarcastic.

Gilda's expression darkened. "No Dash, I don't think so. Professors, universities, it's all the way knowledge gets controlled and kept out of our hooves. Er, or talons. I have zero interest in talking about this stuff with anyone other than you."

"Um, okay." Dash pursed her lips.

Gilda sighed. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Third time you've said that."

"Don't be a pain. This information will be useful to you. Have any questions, concerns, comments?" Gilda asked. "Because you know, I just love showing off my education. Makes me feel smart. Tell me how smart I am Dash."

Dash tried to think of the think most likely to get a reaction. “Could you start over? I kinda stopped paying attention after that part about the Gulls.”

"Don't tempt me." Gilda settled down in her hammock.

Dash laughed to herself. "Yeah, you'd do it." Her dopey smile last a few more minutes, as she stared into the blue sky. "Hey G, thanks for taking me with you. I know I'm not the easiest pony to deal with."

"Yeah no prob. You're my friend." Gilda yawned.

Dash smiled. "Not going to admit you're not the easiest griffin to deal with?"

"Nope I'm perfect." Gilda cackled.

"No thanks to yourself. You were designed that way." Dash snorted.

"Hey, hey, too far. Let me joke about my past, and you about yours. I think that'll be better." Gilda said. "Keep an eye out. We should be nearing the mainland."

Rainbow Dash was the first to spot the mainland, a sliver of black on a horizon of blue. The Seapony’s Pride immediately veered south-by-southwest. Too far south was an inconvenience, with the slight possibility of corsairs. Too far north was a dangerous risk, full of privateers and GOC gunboats.

The remaining days to Clawstantinople were the most eventful. Rainbow began seeing more and more ships in the seas around them. Most were merchant ships, smaller cogs or caravels. Every so often, a warship the same size or greater than the Seapony was seen, patrolling the trade lanes.

Gilda’s fighting lessons had stopped, but Rainbow (incorrectly) felt like she was a match for any earth pony or zebra at least: Flying circumvented a lot of the hazard of ship to ship combat. Magic even moreso.

"Hey Gilda, why aren't there any unicorns in the crew?" Dash asked.

"You mean, why is everypony but us an earthpony of zebra?" Gilda chuckled. "It's all about cultural affinities, I guess. Seafaring isn't as socially accepted in unicorn culture. For pegasi, I think it has more to do with us being in the Eastern Sea. There's a lot more pegasi on Equestria's west coast, so more pegasi sail in the West Sea."

"And the zebras?" Dash asked. "I mean there's hardly any zebras in Equestria. Like, I don't think I've ever seen one!"

"Just because this is an equestrian ship, it doesn't mean it is a purely equestrian crew. We stop in at Shahellan ports all the time, and there's some pretty great zebra sailors in Talzgiers and Mare Kesh."

"Okay. Why no griffins?"

Gilda scratched her head in diluted apprehension. "Most griffins, uh, just don't like ponies that much. They stick to themselves and crew on griffin owned ships. What can I say." She shrugged. "We're a little bit prejudiced, even the 'new griffins'."

"After I spent all those years yelling at ponies for excluding you, you know I understand that animals can be nasty to each other." Dash nodded solemnly.

"It'd be my privilege of getting run out of town with you again, Dash." Gilda grinned. "But, uh, maybe not for a couple years. This job's still paying steadily."

Within a day they were in sight of their destination.

Rainbow had seen much of what Equestria had to offer. She had been born and raised in the great pegasus city of Cloudsdale, a metropolis high in the clouds. She’d seen Canterlot, the Foal Mountains, Filly Delphia, and Baltimare. Clawstantinople was somehow a mix of all these cities.

Beak Bay, the great sea separating southern Griffany from northern Sahella, met the East Ocean on it’s western corner at the hundred kilometer wide Marble Strait. On the Griffany side of the strait was the waterway’s namesake, the Marble Mountain, and the city of Clawstantinople. But Rainbow could not distinguish them, for Clawstantinople was the Marble Mountain.

This was not the gleaming white of Canterlot’s halls, but a streaked orange-red, that rose above the ocean like a massive pyre. Most of the city had been carved into the rock itself, creating dozens of unbroken rings of buildings. The bottom of the mountain touched the water, and was ringed by docks were boats bobbed like little toys. Nearer to the pinnacle the rings got taller, until the top hundred feet of the mountain were a single enormous basilica.

Tethered at various points were something Rainbow had missed since leaving Cloudsdale: Airships. Most of the griffin airships were diminutive, probably able to hold ten passengers or an equivalent amount of cargo at most. But this was the largest airship Rainbow had ever seen! It’s carriage alone was the size of a galleon, and the balloon matched the basilica for length.

"Woah." Dash gawked. "That thing's bigger than Clousdale's Stratus District!"

“I bet you can’t guess who owns that monstrosity.” Gilda taunted Rainbow.

“It must be the princess of the city, right?” Rainbow guessed.

“Clawstantinople is a republic, remember?”

“Uh, a rich trader?”

“Most of the traders and merchants who operate here actually live in north Griffany, where the markets are.”

Rainbow exhausted her short list of ideas. “I dunno. Who?”

Gilda grinned. “A mercenary company. The Princes of Equestria.”

Rainbow was at once impressed and annoyed. “It should have counted when I guessed princess.”

“Ha! These mercenaries are no royalty. They’re ruthless murderers, willing to do inflict whatever their employer desires, for as long as the money keeps coming. Mercenaries like them are particularly popular with the GOC.”

“Then what are they doing here?” Rainbow pointed to the airship.

“The Princes of Equestria are under contract to protect the city. The Clawstantinople contract is incredibly lucrative, and has made the Princes enough bits to buy that thing. Most mercenaries aren’t, they’re just regular griffins and ponies who fight as a job. But the Princes…” Gilda shuddered. "Err, it's a little embarrassing but I looked all this up thinking I might join up with them. I decided against it in a soberer hour."

Dash frowned. Gilda was thinking about joining a murderer troupe? "G, you're getting better about controlling your urges right? How are you feeling?"

Gilda's smile vanished. "We went over this in Baltimare. Everything's fine for a few more weeks at least."

"You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. If you're worried because of the whole mercenary thing, don't be." Gilda insisted gruffly. "Like I said, I decided against it, after I'd had some time."

"And a meal I bet."

"So what if I did indulge a little. You know I can't help it." Gilda clacked her beak in irritation. "Dash, why do you do this to me? You know I get uncomfortable talking about this."

"That excuse is starting to wear on me. Maybe I'm uncomfortable with you partaking."

"Gods help me woman, I'm doing my best. It's an iterative process." Gilda smoothed her crest back. She sighed. "You're right though. Geeze... Sorry for snapping. You're here to steer me right, huh Dash?"

"Always, Gilda." Still, out of the corner of her eye, Dash couldn't help but admire the magnificent airship. It sickened her to think it, but she could understand somepony becoming a murderer to get to fly around in that thing.
“It’s still something to strive for.” She said to herself. "Celestia willing, accomplished by different means."