In Pursuit of...

Chapter 7: The Finer Points of Sailing

The Canterlot docks were alive with the smell of fresh water and fish, and the sounds of the Great Equestrian River’s flow, boats coming in and out, and of course, swearing sailor ponies were everywhere. On top of it all, Pinkie Pie was bouncing along excitedly.

“Oh, goody! Boats!” she cried, bouncing over to a party barge festooned with bright ribbons, a lounge, and balloons. “Can we take this one?”

“No, Pinkie,” said Twilight, “that’s not our boat.”

“Aww,” Pinkie said, hanging her head. Her misery was short-lived, however.

“Well… what about this one?” She had now bounced right over to a yacht. On deck was a small tennis court. Twilight smacked herself in the head with her hoof. Ignoring Pinkie, she turned to Fluttershy. The yellow and pink Pegasus was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” she asked.

“T-t-too much noise!” she whispered.

“Oh, I see.”

“Aw, take it like a Pegasus,” Rainbow Dash said, swooping down next to her and landing gracefully on the dock.

“Rainbow,” Twilight hissed.

“Sorry,” said Rainbow Dash, “I just don’t think there’s really any reason to be scared here.”

“Well, Fluttershy might think differently,” Twilight said, “right, Flutter-?”

She stopped. Fluttershy was no longer next to her. She turned around and saw the Pegasus staring at something, petrified, shaking uncontrollably, and biting her hooves.

“Fluttershy?” she asked, “what is it?” Then she followed Fluttershy’s gaze. She was staring at a pony who’d just caught a large fish off the dock. When she turned back to her friend, Fluttershy had a certain glint in her eye; a glint Twilight knew all too well.

“Oh no,” she breathed. Fluttershy drew in a big intake of breath and suddenly just about exploded at the fisherpony.

“What in Equestria is the matter with you? Did that fish ever do anything to you? Put it back where it came from right *now!*”

Startled, the pony complied, dropping the fish back in the water.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy whispered. Nimbus just stared back at the commotion, openmouthed. He’d been talking with the dock attendant, arranging a boat rental. When Fluttershy exploded, Nimbus doubted even something as legendary as a sonic rainboom could have gotten his attention faster. He finished signing the release papers for his boat and walked back with Mecha to the rest of the ponies.

“What was that all about?” he asked no one in particular.

“Just a little fishing trouble, is all,” Applejack said, “it’s all taken care of.”

“Well alright then,” said Nimbus, not entirely convinced. “Anyway, I just got a boat. Let’s go check it out. It’s at dock D-4.”

“Great!” said Twilight.

“I hope it’s fast,” Rainbow Dash added. Nimbus simply shrugged.

“I don’t know what it’s going to be like. I just got the best one for the money.”

“Good call,” said Mecha.

“I just hope it won’t be too… unsightly,” Rarity said, “no offense, Nimbus.”

“None taken,” Nimbus replied, finding the dock. Tied to it was… not what anypony was expecting, to be sure.

“We’re going in this?” Rarity said, obviously appaled, “this doesn’t blend with my style in the least!”

“That doesn’t look fast at all!” Rainbow Dash said.

“And it’s got holes in it,” Applejack exclaimed.

“Couldn’t be helped,” Nimbus said, “that’s all the money I’ve got right now.”

Tied to the dock was what had obviously once been a proud sailboat. Its paint was flaking everywhere, and the hull- whatever parts of it weren’t composed of rotting wood- was rusting quite miserably. There was still a sail- or at least part of one. A stump about as tall as Nimbus stood from the center of the deck. Gingerly, Twilight placed a hoof inside the very-nearly derelict vessel.

“Well,” she said, stepping in all the way, “at least it’s seaworthy.”

The others stepped in, following her example.

“Are those… tooth-marks?” Fluttershy asked, indicating a row of perfectly-spaced indentations in the roof of the boat’s small, enclosed navigation room.

“Could be,” Mecha said, “in fact, it looks almost like those of a-“

“Don’t tell me,” Fluttershy said, “I’d rather not know.” Mecha shrugged and took a seat as Nimbus untied the boat’s line.

“So where to?” Rainbow Dash asked, taking the wheel without really asking if anyone else wanted it.

“Upriver,” Nimbus responded. Rainbow looked at him like he was crazy.

“What?” Nimbus asked.

“You did say upriver, right?”

Nimbus nodded.

“And you do realize that this boat couldn’t even do that when it had a sail, right?”

Nimbus was in shock, trying to understand his blunder. Finally, he facehoofed himself. “You’re right,” he said, kicking the boat’s side. “I’ll just get off and-“ he stopped as he realized that the boat was now drifting downriver. They still had the tie-down rope, but the dock was too far away.

“Dang,” was all Nimbus could say.

“Good job, smarty-hooves,” Rainbow Dash said. Nimbus couldn’t help notice that her tone was more playful than sarcastic this time, however. Perhaps she was starting to get used to his presence.

“Well,” said Twilight slowly, “I have a plan that might work…”

…

“You know this is ridiculous, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as Twilight tied the tie-down rope around her midsection.

“That it may be, but this is the only plan we’ve got that works. None of us can pull and swim, but you can pull and fly. Besides, we’ll swap you out with Nimbus and Fluttershy during the trip.”

“Brilliant,” Rainbow Dash moaned.

The boat had run aground about thirty feet from the dock, and Mecha had volunteered to run back to the dock’s small restaurant and pick up sandwiches for dinner. Now he was returning.

“So this is your plan,” he said to Twilight, pointing to Rainbow Dash, “I like it!”

“Well, we’ll see how it works,” Twilight said as Mecha got back into the boat, “have you seen Pinkie?”

Mecha shook his head.

“Here I am!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping into the boat from the shore and nearly flipping it.

“Okay, that’s everypony,” Twilight said. “Ready, Rainbow?”

“Ready,” Rainbow Dash confirmed, pawing the deck.

“Okay, then. Three, two, one, go!”

Rainbow Dash took off like a streak of lightning. Twilight braced herself for sudden acceleration. Instead, what she got was a sickening “crack” as Rainbow’s takeoff ripped the rest of the mast clear of the boat. When Rainbow realized she was no longer pulling anything, she turned around and came back.

“Perhaps a slower start next time,” Twilight said, looking forlornly at the hole where the mast used to be.

…

“Yes,” Eclipse murmured, “yes. This is what I’ve waited for so long to finally achieve.”

He was kneeling over the still figure of Luna, encircling her with his wings. Slowly, a green light was pulsing out of her horn and into Eclipse’s wings; her consciousness. In a manner of moments, the Alicorn in front of Eclipse would be nothing more than a shell. Every second the energy pulsed through his system, Eclipse felt better- more complete.

“So this is what it’s like to be whole,” he thought, “I haven’t felt like this since-“

He stopped. He dared not mention the name of Nightmare Moon. That… thing had been primarily Luna’s creation, born of jealousy. He supposed he had Nightmare Moon to thank for his existence, but that was the extent of his admiration. He was something new; the child of Nightmare Moon’s hatred and ambition; a being becoming more powerful every second. If Nightmare Moon had been able to make Equestria bow before her, what could he, unrestrained by any sliver of compassion do? He chuckled to himself. Luna had been so susceptible…

He gazed up at the great, green gem above him. Soon, he would be able to wield its power- whatever its power was, and when he could, no force in Equestria, not even the Elements of Harmony, would be able to resist him.

He looked back down at the Princess of the Night below him. She was pale, not breathing. One could easily believe she was dead, but a true master of magic would know instantly that her consciousness had simply been absorbed. He brushed the matter aside, however. No one would be able to reach Skywatch Tower, and even if somepony did, he’d be powerful enough to deal with the threat himself. Only a little longer to go…

…

“Alright,” said Twilight Sparkle to Rainbow Dash, “so what did we learn?”

“Not… to just take off like it’s a race,” Rainbow responded, somewhat halfheartedly.

“That’s right,” Twilight said, refastening the rope to both Rainbow Dash and the boat’s bow, “now let’s try this again, shall we?”

By now, the sun was going down. It had been a long day, with a lot of work crammed into a short time. Hopefully, they could all relax on the boat tonight. Slowly, Rainbow Dash started hovering above the deck. When she felt she was high enough, she began to move forward slowly, pulling the boat with her. Cheers erupted from the docks.

“I was unaware we had spectators,” Nimbus mused.

Mecha nodded. “Yeah, well finally launching this boat is quite an accomplishment.”

As they began to pull out under Pegasus power, Nimbus suddenly heard the roaring of a motor. He looked behind the boat and saw a sleek yacht approaching. Its decks were packed with ponies, and they appeared to be following the boat.

“Can anypony tell me what they’re doing here?” Nimbus asked, pointing with a hoof towards the yacht.

Pinkie Pie took a glance back excitedly. “Oh boy! They’re here!”

“Who’s here?” Applejack asked, confused.

“The documentary crew!” Pinkie replied, jumping up and down and rocking the boat.

“The who?” Mecha asked.

“Not who, documentary crew!” Pinkie replied.

“A documentary? We’re being filmed?” Rarity almost shrieked, “but I barely combed my mane this morning, and my hooves- I’m so underdressed.”

Apparently Rainbow Dash had caught word of the crew as well, because she’d picked up speed, showing off for the cameras. The crew practically ate the performance up. Twilight, meanwhile, had to wrap herself around the rope and mast-stump to keep both from falling apart.

“Pinkie!” Nimbus called over the waves now spraying over the deck, “can’t you make them go away!”

“Oh, well of course!” Pinkie replied. Signaling Rainbow to stop, she hopped up onto the back of the boat.

“Hey guys,” she called to the camera crew, “it’s too late to film now. See you tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow?” Nimbus thought, now thoroughly losing control.

“How was that?” Pinkie asked, hopping back into the boat. Nimbus simply collapsed.