Sea

"Come inside, sit down," Somerset said, taking a seat in the chair at his desk. "Twilight, you too."

Cross walked into the room with a slight smile on her face. She looked at twilight, who merely regarded her with a wary glance, and sat down. She looked at Somerset, who looked back at her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he said, taking a comfortable position in the chair and looking at her candidly.

"Well, where to start. First, the quartermaster asked you to find him the crew manifest whenever you have spare time," she said, looking at her hoof as she tried to remember what she was going to say. "Then, there's the one pony who said that some of the crew were plotting to jump ship in Red Rock," she continued.

Somerset sighed. "Typical. They join the Navy and can't stay for more than a week or two. Anything else?"

"Oh!" Cross said. "Twilight. I was planning to go into the city at Red Rock and buy some stuff," she said, turning to look at the purple mare who leaned against the door. "Do you wanna come sometime tomorrow?"

Before Twilight could reply, Somerset shook his head. "She's not leaving the ship, and you aren't either. You can do your shopping once we got a port that's actually got a police presence, but I don't want anypony more than the bare minimum risking themselves by going into Red Rock," he said. "Plus, there's nothing good to buy there. Trust me, I'd know."

Cross sighed. "Fine. By the way, are we going to stop by Dad's family?"

Somerset looked at her with a stern expression. "When we get there."

Cross took the hint, looking at her hooves. After about a minute, she looked up. "Twilight? Come here for a second."

The purple mare walked over to Cross with an apathetic expression. "What?" she asked. She gasped as she felt herself being grabbed, looking around in a mild panic before calming down. She wasn't being grabbed; she was being hugged.

"I'm sorry," Cross said with her muzzle in Twilight's shoulder. "You've looked so sad these days, and it's all my fault. I never should have -"

Twilight tried to make a small smile. "It isn't your fault," she said. "You did nothing wrong. You just didn't know who those ponies actually were. No, it isn't your fault. It's mine, for not forgiving you sooner."

Cross looked up at Twilight with a smile on her face. "So, are we friends again?" Cross asked.

Twilight tensed up. She gulped. "If you want to be friends..." she said. Images of fire and smoke flashed in her mind, but she shook her head to banish them away. "Sure." she said with a slight smile on her face.

But in the back of her mind, a sense of foreboding gnawed at her inside.