Coco

At least the rats were nice, for raiders. They had given her her own cabin; while Caballeron and all the other stallions had been crammed three apiece into two other cabins. True, it was a small space compared to what she had on Nutmeg, and it was smaller still to the luxury cruiser she had began this debacle of a vacation on, but it was at least private. Coco currently sat on her luggage; there was nowhere to put it but the only empty part of the floor. She eyed the hammock with suspicion; she had never slept in one before, nor even seen one in person. There was a reason ponies used beds, after all.

Alas, all she wanted to do was to go to sleep, now. It's just one mess-up after another, Coco sighed to herself. Did she do something wrong? Was this divine retribution for taking a year and a half to stand up to Suri? Had she angered some spirit or demon? Maybe it's the spider silk, she thought, maybe it belonged to a spider goddess, and this is what I get for buying stolen goods?

That was a chilling thought...

Dinner was brought to her, just a poor soup. Coco couldn't help but envy even the rustics back home. At least they ate well, if simply. This was simple and unwell! Night fell, by the darkening of the light in the porthole, and Coco had no choice but to figure out how the hammock worked. It wasn't easy. In the morning, she found that she had slipped out of the hammock; her hind legs were tangled in the cloth, and her face was planted firmly in her suitcase. “Wonderful...” sighed Coco.

There was a knock at the door, and then a sharp voice. “Miss Pommel, your presence is requested.”

“It is?” she asked, jolting at the unexpected noise.

“Yes, Miss Pommel. The Captain wishes to meet with you, in his stateroom.”

“Very well...” Coco swallowed nervously. What did the rat captain want with her? She took a few moments to make herself look as presentable as a lady of her class ought to be, before coming out of her room.

“Follow me.” ordered the tawny-furred rat before her. He was one of their marines, clad in a dark grey tunic and polished steel cuirass and helmet. Coco noted that he stood eye to eye with her. She had also noted that the rats didn't have one uniform height. There were squat ones like this marine, there were taller ones like Lieutenant Torner or that shady grey one she'd seen the other day, and then there was Captain Barlent, tallest of all the rats on the ship, who towered over the ponies.

The Captain's quarters were not far from her cabin, it seemed; it took less than half a minute to get there.

“Ah, Grimsly, you've brought the lady. Good, good. Please wait outside.” Captain Barlent ordered. The rat, named Grimsly apparently, saluted and did as told. Coco took note of the so-called stateroom; it was smaller than her bedroom in Manehatten, but richly decorated. The room was paneled in chestnut, the floor covered in a rich carpet from a distant land, the chairs were padded, and the table even had a tablecloth.

There were many maps hanging on the walls too; one of the entire known world and unexplored regions surrounding it, many more focused more on familiar areas only. One chart, detailing everything from the southern border of Hivald to the north of Equestria, and from the shores of Zebradrom to the island kingdoms of the griffons, had a great multitude of pins in them, labeled with dates and names. No doubt a record of this raider's victims, Coco thought. There were six in the vicinity of Saint Garnet, all very recently dated... She turned to the table itself, and found the Captain, the grey rat present whent they first boarded, and-

“Doctor Caballeron!” greeted Coco. “I didn't expect to find you here as well. Good morning!”

“Good morning.” he replied, with an obviously forced pleasantness. His morning must have not been going well.

“I am pleased you could join us.” said the rat captain, gesturing her to sit. She did so. “You know us two, but this is our political officer, Greywacke.” Barlent gestured to the grey rat, who was also in uniform. What a fitting name, thought Coco. Greywacke made not acknowledgment that he had been introduced; instead, he just wrote something in an open notebook he was holding.

“My choices were... limited.” she said, trying to remain polite. “I thought it best not to offend my captors.”

“Oh, come now; we are quite civil here, as you will see.” Barlent assured her. “My crew is well-disciplined and accustomed to fighting a clean war, and I consider my honor unimpeachable. You are in safe hands here, Miss Pommel, and that goes for all you Equestrians.”

“I hope so.” she muttered. “If I may ask, Captain, why am I here?”

“We've been interviewing your fellow-traveler all morning,” Barlent said, gesturing to the tired Caballeron, “and something just doesn't add up. I was given orders, direct from the Tetrarchy,” he pointed to four portraits on the wall, “to capture this stallion and bring him back to Hivald. But why? He insists there's nothing he has that could possibly be of interest to us.” Caballeron nodded.

“I'm an archaeologist; I don't have any weapons or designs or inventions that could assist in your war.” he stated. “If I was, I'd be more than willing to enter the Republic's employ, but I am not.”

“However...” the rat captain folded his hands on the table. The way his long, clawed fingers interleaved made Coco uncomfortable; it just wasn't something ponies saw often. “I don't entirely believe him. Miss Pommel, you are a lady of some rank in your homeland, I am to understand. And I am from a higher bloodline myself, despite its dispossession by the Republic.” Barlent glanced at Greywacke, who only gave him a cool look. “I'm sure the mutual respectability of our stations would...”

“Compel me to answer you truthfully?” guessed Coco.

“Yes, that would be one way to put it.” Barlent agreed.

“But I'm only the daughter and heiress of an hereditary knight, just a single step up from the commoners...” she objected. Caballeron gave her a look that said why are you telling him that?

“No matter. Please continue.” ordered Barlent.

“Well, he is right. Doctor Caballeron has only struck me as an archaeologist with a streak of strange luck, in the time I've known him.” Coco said firmly. For a moment, she thought about mentioning the Horn... No, he's my friend, I'm not going to betray that for some raider, she decided. If she was to be the lady of her household one day, she needed to establish a reputation for honor of her own. Friends did not turn on friends!

“Strange luck?” Barlent raised an eyebrow. Greywacke's ears pricked up, but he still remained silent.

“Yes, all my ships scheduled to sail for the griffon realms had some kind of accident before they could leave. I was forced to board Nutmeg and go straight home to Equestria. Who would have thought this would be the result?” Caballeron explained, before frowning. “Well, with my luck, I saw it coming from a mile away.”

“I see...” The rat captain tapped a foot on the floor for a moment, looking off into space, before returning to them. “And that box of yours..?”

“Personal items.” said Caballeron, narrowing his eyes. “Money and luggage, if you must know.”

“You say you are an archaeologist, Doctor. One must wonder if your luggage contains anything related to your field of study.” Barlent put a hand on his chin. “Regardless, something will be decided. Thank you for your time, Miss Pommel, you are dismissed.” He waved to Grimsly to take her away, and away they went. Coco had to wonder what would happen when the rats found the Horn.

“You're from the Equestrian nobility, are you?” asked Grimsly the marine.

“Yes, I am...” Coco said, guardedly. “What's it to you?”

“We overthrew our monarch and lords many years ago. I have never met a real aristocrat.” Grimsly said, wringing his hands. “You do not seem so different from the rest of us.”

“I'm not an alicorn, if that's what you are saying.” Coco told him, in a cool tone. The word overthrew deeply unsettled her, truth be told. “I suppose you could say I'm among the landed elite.”

“Landed elite, huh? Well, we still have that,even after the revolution.” Grimsly snorted. “The more things change, the more they stay the same...” He glanced around cautiously. “Don't tell the political officer I said that, though. Seditious words are not looked upon kindly, especially in a time of war.”

“Of course, you have my word.” Coco declared.

“Sergeant!” one of the rat marines ran up, saluting. “We took the Equestrians out for air, one of them is being belligerent about coming down again.”

Grimsly snorted again. “Miss Pommel, see yourself to your cabin, I trust you can do that?” She nodded, and off the rats went. The hall was now deserted. Coco was about to enter her cabin as told, when an idea came to her... A clever, cunning idea.

She passed her door, and instead looked into the stallion's cabins, searching for Caballeron's metal box. Without taking the time for a good look, she opened it, and picked up the Horn in her mouth, running as quietly as she could into her own cabin. Coco tossed it into her hammock, and turned on her own suitcase. Removing the least feminine clothes she had, and ran back to put them in Caballeron's box. The sneaky scheme completed, Coco returned to her cabin for real, and closed the door.

Oh, I've done it now! she thought, now suddenly nervous. All she could do was hope that Caballeron had not cracked under pressure and mentioned the Horn. They'd be most surprised then, if they searched his box and found nothing but clothes and money instead of something valuable. Speaking of which... Coco peeked over the edge of her hammock, staring at the Horn.

It was as a lengthy instrument, as long as a pony and formed from a smooth dark material, like some kind of blackened ivory. Rings of iron clawed into it, bearing the same strange inscriptions of flowing runes. Faint channels spiraled around the Horn, evenly spaced and only lightly inscribed. Coco looked inside; she couldn't see around the curve to the mouthpiece. If there was something blocking it from making a sound, she couldn't know without cutting it open.

Coco hid the Horn under her hammock and behind her suitcase, hoping that no rat would bother looking there if they had to search her cabin. If they found it, she'd be in very big trouble, to say the least. It was worth it, though. These rats had cost her a lot as it was, inconveniencing them made her feel better. Coco might have been a nice mare, but her time with Suri left her with a finer appreciation for the old saying what goes around, comes around.

For the rest of the day, she distracted herself with figuring out how a pony was supposed to lay in a hammock; no easy task. Dinner came and went, and soon she again laying down and looking at the ceiling. Her mind drifted, and she strayed out of thought and into sleep.

Coco found herself shivering under a sickened and dying sky; surrounded by a bleak waste of ash, dust, ice, and rock. Only a hint of light came through the brown haze above, a sharp wind sliced through even her winter coat. She stepped forward, the sound of crunching and snapping under her hooves with her every move. Something approached her, always on the edge of her eyes. Coco's heart beat faster, her shivering wasn't just due to chill now. A low keening rose from the blasted landscape, growing and growing until the harsh wail made her clamp her hooves over her ears. When she opened her eyes-

Coco blinked again, glancing around her cabin. She rolled over, nervously looking at the Horn below the hammock. It sat silently, staring back at her.

Author's Note