What Could Have Been

        Twilight stood in front of a massive, elegant cruise ship, with Spike on her back.  She still couldn't believe that only 16 passengers, 17 if you counted Spike, would be leaving on it today. Twilight looked at the other passengers,  who were slowly filing in. They were mostly obviously wealthy ponies, some with luggage several times larger than themselves. Only the two at the very end of the line caught Twilight's eye for particularly long. They were a pair of pegasi,  the only two among the passengers,  and they both had grey coats and manes. Grey wasn't a common color among ponies, who were usually brighter.

        One, a tall, somewhat thinner than average stallion with a coat that was only a few shades from white, had on a pair of glasses with tinted lenses. His mane and tail were long and unruly and was even closer to white than his coat. He had the tips of his large wings bleached to a true white, for reasons unknown. And, on top of that, he didn't have a cutie mark. His flank was completely blank,  even though he appeared to be older than Twilight herself. He was also wearing only a simple white jacket, in stark contrast to the elaborate costumes most of the other passengers wore. There was a pin attached to his jacket, although Twilight couldn't make out what it was from this distance.        "Princess, I believe that you should get in line," he says in a calm, practiced Canterlot accent.        This is enough to make Twilight blush and get in line, right behind them. Spike soon followed.        The other was a mare, of about average build. Her dark gray mane and tail were not quite short and not quite long, styled in a way that seemed effortless at a glance,  but actually was elaborate when viewed up close. She had a rather unusual cutie mark, which was the main thing that made Twilight interested in her. Her cutie mark was a simple rendition of an empty birdcage. Twilight wasn't sure what kind of talent would lead to something like that, aside from possibly keeping birds, but even in that case, Twilight felt that it should at least contain a bird. She had a clip in her mane with an insignia similar to the one on the stallion's pin.        The two ponies in front of her were finally in the front of the line, with only Twilight behind them.The pair entered the boat, were handed some sort of object and headed in opposite directions. Twilight stepped up, and was handed what turned out to be a set of instructions to get to her room in exchange for her ticket. Wait, those two before me didn't have tickets... Twilight doesn't get to think about this for very long because Spike pokes her lightly and tells her to actually get in the ship instead of just standing around.        The inside of the ship wasn't nearly as elegant as its exterior on first glance, but a closer examination showed small gemstones embedded in the blue-grey walls. Twilight looks at the directions, which tell her that her room number was 238 and that she couldn't just teleport while on the ship for some unexplained reason. Twilight turns left at a set of massive double doors and walks along a corridor full of near identical doors, differentiated only by number until she reaches a small staircase and walks up it. On this floor, the walls are now a sickly red and there is slightly more space between the doors than before. Twilight walks along another corridor until she reaches her room.        The room is much more spacious than should be possible. Almost everything  is the same red as the hallway, except for the carpet on the floor, which was kind of brownish.  There's a huge bed with a canopy above it, a rather large walk-in closet, a small refrigerator,  a small bookshelf,  and a desk with a large, round mirror above it and a lamp on it. There's a typed note on the desk indicating that Twilight's luggage was inside the closet, as well as a simple map of the ship. There’s also a smaller bed for Spike and a comfy chair by the desk. Twilight notices that the room also has a window, with curtains covering it. Twilight pushes aside the curtains with her magic and sees an impossible sight: instead of the dock outside, she saw Ponyville,  as she would if she was in Canterlot. Twilight tries to open the window and fails as it isn't meant to be opened. Twilight can't detect any enchantments on the window, unlike almost everything else in the room. Twilight doesn't recognize the enchantments placed upon the items in the room, but they largely seem to be for keeping the room clean or preventing thievery.        Twilight isn't exactly tired,  it is only the middle of the afternoon,  but Spike is. Sometimes,  I forget that he's still a baby, after all he's been through. Spike climbs into the larger bed, and quickly falls asleep. Goodnight, Spike. Twilight uses her telekinesis to gently lift Spike out of the larger bed and place him in the smaller one. Twilight casually closes the door in the same fashion. Twilight lifts one of the books of the bookshelf , gets onto her bed and begins reading.        About an hour later, there's a knock on Twilight's door. Twilight closes her book, hops off her bed and opens the door. On the other side is that dark gray pegasus mare from earlier.  Twilight can see that her eyes are a brownish grey, and that the clip in her hair shows a black scale with a stylized sun on one side and a similar moon on the other, in a perfect balance. It doesn’t quite match the symbol of any organization she knows of.        "Hello, Princess Twilight." The mare's sudden speech surprises Twilight, as well as the clear voice with which it is delivered.  "I have something to tell you."        "You can come in." Twilight backs out of the doorframe to allow the pegasus in.        "The Captain wants to meet you. I am to bring you to him, if that's okay." The pegasus looks rather uncertain and even slightly embarrassed, which Twilight wasn't expecting.        "It is."        The two leave the room, with Twilight standing behind the pegasus. Twilight follows her up a flight of stairs and into a corridor with overly bright golden wallpaper. Twilight starts to speak with the other pony."So, what's your name?""It's...Afterthought. I'm not sure if it's some kind of cruel joke or what," the pegasus says, slightly hesitantly.Twilight stops moving while contemplating whether to ask her next question or stop there."Do you work here?""No, I just do whatever's needed of me, and right now that's bringing you to the captain." She sounds as if she had practiced this response.Afterthought stops in front of a small door which is adjacent to a much larger one. She opens the door, glances at whatever's inside, closes the door again before Twilight can see what is inside the room,  and blushes slightly."That was the wrong room. This is the first time I've been on this ship as well."She leads Twilight to another door, on the other side of the larger door. She opens it gently, looks inside and, when it becomes clear that this is the correct destination, leads Twilight inside. This room has light blue walls and simple furniture.  There is a desk, with a chair nearby, as well as a bookshelf in the leftmost corner. The unicorn sitting in the chair is teal, with a carefully styled dark green mane that appears to have previously been bright blue. She gets out of her chair, walks over to Twilight and bows."Really, that's not necessary!" Twilight is surprised by the captain's reaction and backs away slightly.