Holy Land

The Infidel was received with subdued fanfare. Icewall had done better before, but the present crisis had not passed it over. As it was, ponies and griffins were holding up warm buns and bottles of juice or beer before the ship stopped moving. The youngest sailors eagerly stuffed their pockets with the treats, ignoring their master’s glare.

Gingersnap, who had not eaten anything since the previous night, emptied two large brown bottles before anypony noticed, and was tipsy before the loading ramp was put down. Coral Frond stayed close behind him, ready to grab his tail in case he toppled off the crowded boardwalk.

The harbormaster was a tall, graceful mare, built more like a fashion model than a sailor. Even a loose-fitting jumpsuit looked flattering on her. Gingersnap tried not to stare, which in his inebriated state meant turning his head almost fully backwards as he walked past her on the way into town.

The Spectre’s crew was brought to an inn with a complete view of the harbor. The red brick walls and white roof was pretty but not magnificent. Soon most everyone was enjoying breakfast on the cobblestone path of the garden. Gingersnap and Coral Frond ate their waffles leaning against the low wall at the edge of the garden. It was a considerable drop to the next street, and behind them the street rose higher and higher up the side of the island's central mound.

The Infidel was by far the biggest ship in sight. The others, fifty-seven from Gingersnap's count, were mostly single-mast sloops with a few schooners. Few sailors in Baltimare would dare to sail the open ocean in such small ships, yet as they watched ponies and griffins were busy loading two sloops that could not have been more than thirty feet long each. There was even a dory with two griffins bobbing precariously on the waves a good distance from shore.

Gingersnap was enjoying the Chain Islands far too much. He wished the fruit syrup didn’t taste so good, and that the clothes he wore didn’t fit so comfortably. He recalled stories of sea ponies that sailors told each other. Probably false, he now realized, but probably with some meaning that gave them the vitality to be passed on for so many generations.

You never realize their treachery until you’ve leapt into their waiting hooves.

“Hey.”

Gingersnap felt the prod at his shoulder and realized that Coral Frond had been talking softly for some time.

“What is it?” He said.

Coral Frond’s ears flapped nervously, and he looked over both shoulders before leaning in closer.

“Do you think… Do you think Morning Breeze will actually let me stay here?”

Gingersnap felt a chill spreading out from his heart. He swallowed, looking into Coral frond’s bright, sincere eyes.

“He will,” he said. “But why would you want to? You’ll never be able to go home again. And isn’t that what you want?”

Coral Frond scratched the back of his left hoof with his right. Gingersnap recognized the problem instantly.

“Why did you want to go back to Equestria before?” He asked, sounding more exasperated than he meant to. “Why go back, if you had nothing?”

“I was going to have money,” Coral Frond said, dangling his head dejectedly over the ledge. “I… I was going to go to Canterlot. Get an education and make something of myself. That’s all I ever wanted. All this time in the navy, I was just saving up money.”

“Aren’t you a bit old for school?”

It was a reasonable question, or so Gingersnap thought. But Coral Frond just closed his eyes. Gingersnap went back to eating, but when he looked up again the younger pony was shaking.

“What’s the matter?” It was Gingersnap’s turn to check behind his shoulder. Fortunately most of his shipmates had gone inside. He huddled close to Coral Frond and put a hoof over his shoulder.

“I’m too old,” he sobbed. “Way too old. I’m not as good as some unicorns half my age. But Canterlot was my only chance. They’ve made exceptions before; strange things have happened in that city. If I can just go back to Port of Mercy, and if Professor Blaze would take me… but that'll never happen.”

Gingersnap sat down and pulled his friend off the ledge. Coral Frond didn’t resist.

“If this is what you want, talk to Morning Breeze,” he said, looking straight into Coral Frond’s tear-stained face. “Don’t let me or anyone else make that choice for you. You and I know what that feels like. It’s happened way too often to us, and this is your one chance to do what you want.”

They sat quietly staring out to sea until they were both shivering. Only then did they go their separate ways. The inn had private rooms. Gingersnap undressed and fell onto the bed without brushing himself. It was all too strange. He had to constantly remind himself where he was and where he had come from. He told himself that the Infidel was not his ship; that Morning Breeze and Hornpipe had no authority over him.

But what authority did the admiralty have over him, or Celestia for that matter?

Gingersnap breathed through the pillow until he was dizzy. All the same the dangerous thoughts echoed in his mind.

What has Equestria ever done for you?

“You told them already?” Morning Breeze rubbed his brow and breathed deeply, doing his best to stay civil.

“As I ought, Breeze,” Alice said. “What do you have to gain from all of this? We’re prepared for something like this. You’re not.”

“Of course I am!”

“The Snow Queen is dangerous, Breeze,” she said evenly. “Lending it to you, we anticipated something would go wrong. Nopony blames you. If I'm to be completely honest, we were expecting you to be the problem.”

“I don’t care if they send me chocolates and roses!” He snapped. “This is a matter for the Chain Islands. The Children of the Night will get their ship back at the agreed-upon time. Until then your war fleets stay out.”

Alice sighed. She refilled his teacup with her strong herbal brew and offered him more biscuits. He accepted them grudgingly. They must have been laced with something more than sugar and butter.

“It's personal, I understand,” she said. “Yellow Jack destroyed your ship. I know you’re angry…”

“It’s not that,” he said slowly, nibbling on his jelly-topped biscuit. “You… you know Jack, don’t you? He came here pretty often. You know what he’s like.”

“I know him,” she said with a cold edge to her voice. “We weren’t friends. But you two were close?”

“Hardly,” he said, looking into his steaming teacup. “He’s rude, smelly, and missing a few screws. But if you’d spend some time with him you’ll notice the good in him.” He paused, distracted by a tendril of vapor rising from his cup. “I thought we had something in common. He said it himself all the time. You know, when I first offered him his ship back, he didn’t take it. His crew was getting ready; they were gonna get out of Baltimare with or without him. But he just stood on the boardwalk looking at me. He said it was his ship, and he would decide when he would board. I had a machete and he was unarmed, and he just stared me down.

“I… I guess that doesn’t make him good. But he did something right. He must have. In the past, when he was younger, he was a good pony.”

“Almost everybody starts off good,” Alice said, reaching across the little kitchen table to take his hoof. “You know that, and I know that. Any reasonable pony would know it. But he’s tried to kill you twice. Why are you going out of your way to spare him?”

“I know what you’re thinking, Alice,” Morning Breeze said without looking up. “That’s not it. I would do the same for anypony. I know that ponies die; even on a freighter on calm seas in peaceful territory something could still go wrong. But I don’t spend my spare time shanking ponies for fun. I was never that kind of pirate.

“Peace and order doesn’t come naturally to us, but for the last decade we’ve fared pretty well. We couldn’t have done it without the help of the Children of the Night, but you have to admit we've done better than you were expecting. We’re all retired from pirating. When was the last time you heard someone say that? But these ponies have never been tested like this. Whether the Chain Islands can survive this crisis is the real trial. If by this time next week the Children of the Night can arrive at this harbor and be greeted warmly by the same ponies who greeted me today, you’ll know that we’ve won.”

“And that’s all there is to the matter?” Alice raised an eyebrow.

“All that and nothing more.”