Amber watched Allura from afar for a good while, not sure what to think. She was scary, but also kinda cute, in a weird way. She trotted up beside Pipp and nudged her. "Think I should talk to her?"

Pipp regarded the ice leopard. "Yeah, you should go say hello, introduce yourself. I'm pretty sure she won't bite you." She paused. "I think?" She drew out her phone. "Either way, I will be sure to capture it for everypony else, and rescue you."

Amber swallowed hard. "Great pep talk. But I think she likes me for some reason, so I'm going to find out why." She trotted over towards Allura, waving. "Hi! Nice to see you again, Miss Kitty."

Allura abandoned sipping something through a curved straw. "Hm? Oh. You." She flashed her dangerous teeth. "I was hoping you'd come by. I'm bored. You ponies have so many ways to be a little happy. How do you stand being so small?"

"I dunno, it feels normal." Amber giggled. "And you're not that much bigger." She leaned back to look over all of Allura. "Um. So. You called. What's on your mind?"

Allura rumbled softly a moment. "I could smell you all over the large one. You brought them, didn't you?"

Amber nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah, that's my fault. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry!" Allura prodded Amber with a paw. "At least it means you're useful. If you can summon something as big and powerful as that, maybe you can go the other way, and send me where I want to be."

Amber blinked. "Uh, teleportation? That's a really high level spell, one I'm not familiar with. Um." She rubbed a hoof on the back of her head. "I don't want to disappoint you, but I'm not sure how to do that."

Allura frowned. "Fine, don't say you can't." Her voice turned wistful. "That creature seemed able to go wherever they wished. Can't you do the same?"

Amber crossed her arms. "Comforting's magic is whatever she wants. The only reason she doesn't get everything she dreams of is she likes the challenge of not cheating to get it, I think. Usually." She frowned with mild thought, adjusting her glasses. "She still plans to extend the library, and I'm almost certain magic will be involved."

"Another world of books?" She watched Amber nod. "Interesting, and that creature can do anything she wants. Maybe I should have kept them close."

Amber shrugged. "Not likely. Comforting doesn't care about power. She doesn't like using her power to 'fix' our problems. She does love watching us work towards solutions to those problems." She huffed gently. "It can be frustrating sometimes, knowing your friend could just make some issue go away, but won't. I understand it, though. Makes us stronger to work for our own wins."

Allura snorted, a puff of cold air leaving her. "I don't care if she wants to fix my problems, just that she does." A faint growl escaped her. "How do I convince her to do it?"

"By working with her. She'll be there to help us, but we need to put in the work too." Amber shrugged. "Not that hard." She tilted her head. "Unless you feel like you'll fail."

"I won't!" Allura spread her wings, anger flaring a moment before she settled down. "I'm working on it. I haven't failed anything."

"Yet." Amber held up her hooves to placate Allura. "Why don't you tell me about your friend, and maybe we can find them?"

"Maybe." Allura glanced around. "But I doubt you've seen them, if I'm the first of my kind you've ever laid your eyes on."

Amber nodded along. "True, but you must know them well, if you want to find them."

Allura's voice turned softer. "I've lived alone until Twitch came along, in my cave." She shook her head. "Getting distracted. Yes, of course I know them well, or at least I did." She clenched her teeth. "How much they may have changed in all those years. Do they even remember me?" She sipped her colorful drink. "This is becoming a depressing topic."

Amber's hoof landed on Allura's foreleg, giving it a rub. "It's going to be okay, I promise." She sat down. "Now, if I were to run into your friend, what would I notice?"

"Besides the fact that you're addressing a large winged feline?" Allura chuckled at the thought. "Still pretty sure that'd be the first thing you notice."

Amber couldn't argue with that. "Sure, but I can imagine that. What would you say about your friend? What's something that's really special to them?"

Allura gazed out at the sea. "That used to be me. We were inseparable." She paused in thought. "Alterro is my brother, if that helps somehow." She sank to be as close to even with Amber as she could get. "Does that get Comforting closer to sending me where I wish to go?"

"Maybe." Amber gestured to the cruise ship. "And being on this ship, might help."

"How?" Allura looked around. "It's just floating along while ponies waste their time, and mine." She sipped her drink. "At least they make decent things to try while you do it."

Amber tapped Allura's drink with her hoof. "Exactly. You're experiencing new things. The more you know, the better chance of finding out something to tell us where your friend is, and how to get you back there."

Allura blinked slowly. "Oh. I'm not sure the way you're hinting at will get me back very quickly." She stretched a powerful leg, claws slicing the air. "Very, what is it, zen. Calm your mind, the secret was inside you the whole time, that sort of thing."

Amber laughed. "Maybe it is! Maybe you'll remember the exact place you used to live, and then we can find it." She spread her hooves. "Besides, it's a vacation. Just enjoy yourself!"

Allura rolled onto her back. "I understand that, at least. Maybe I do need one of those. Why did it have to be such a warm place? I'm more of a snow leopard, you realize. This thick fur is made to hold in heat."

Amber reached out to stroke along the exposed belly. "It's quite soft. Do you like belly rubs? Most cats do, I've read."

Allura went still. "You are being brave. Touching any cat's belly is an open invitation to be attacked. You are inviting it." The tension in her voice was thick with every word. "That you are an ally of that possible answer is the only reason I am telling you this instead of letting you learn the hard way."

Amber jerked her hoof away. "Sorry! I didn't know. I just wanted to feel how soft it was."

Allura sat up and stretched, a low rolling purr escaping her. "If you must touch me, do it almost anywhere else. You ponies sure are tactile, aren't you?"

Amber reached up to scratch Allura's ear, which felt natural. "Some ponies are more than others. We're all friends."

"Sure, friends." She leaned into Amber's hoof, purr growing in strength. "That is a better spot." She closed her eyes. "When we return to land, this little 'truce' will be over, if you have forgotten."

Amber's hoof didn't slow down. "I think you could be a better friend if you really tried." She moved to the other ear, which jerked away after a moment of stroking. "Bad spot?"

"No." Allura rumbled, eyes on Amber intently. "But you are being awfully familiar. Are you trying to seduce me? You're not even the first pony to try that. I will not be so easily swayed."

Amber stared back. "Is it working?"

Allura's jaw worked silently for several seconds. "I refuse to dignify that with a response."

Amber laughed softly. "Don't let me distract you, though." She lowered her hoof. "If there's anypony else around that you want to talk to, you should."

Allura rolled away from Amber, facing anything else. "I am done with this conversation, and you. Begone."

Amber backed off slowly. "Okay, I understand. Take it easy, Miss Kitty. And please don't cause trouble."

Allura waited until the pony had left before she stood, stretching out fully with a long, lazy sound. "This boat, what little mad pony decided this was a good use of their time? It's so wasteful." She trotted towards one of the large windows to peer out at the vast ocean beyond it, seeing nothing but water in every direction.

"Excuse me?"

Allura looked down at another little pony. This one was a pegasus, and familiar. "Weren't you one of the ones that stole my chance away from me?" She growled with clear frustration. "Come to rub it in?"

Zipp glared at her, wings flaring slightly. "You tried to force creatures to do your bidding. Not okay." Her wings went back to rest against her sides. "I don't expect you to apologize, but I want you to understand. That wasn't cool, so we stopped it. Doesn't really matter who's doing it, pony or not."

Allura sat down, tail lashing. "You foiled my plan, but you could have made things much worse. Thank you for not destroying my efforts utterly, I suppose." She huffed, frosty air billowing out in front of her. "That doesn't explain why you're bothering me, unless it was just to remind me not to try forcing ponies to help. You're not an auroracorn, and neither are your friends. I have no need of any of them, except maybe one."

"Right." She sat down. "Listen, Allura. We're all stuck on this ship. I don't want you making trouble." She spread her wings. "But if you're here to relax, I'm fine with that too." Zipp looked up and down over the big cat. "What do you like doing, for fun?"

Allura rolled her eyes. "Fun? You really think that's my goal?" She sipped at her colorful drink again. "It isn't exactly a bad place, I can see why ponies might like to be here." She rolled her eyes. "They can tolerate heat better. Now if this little boat were drifting in artic waters." She half-lid her eyes in imagination of such a chilly voyage. "That would be lovely. Yes, that, and keep the rest. At least that would be enjoyable."

Zipp stared. "Okay, you can enjoy things! I wasn't sure, but that's good. Maybe try having some? You could relax by a pool, eat some food, have drinks, dance."

Allura tapped her large glass. "I am doing one of those. I was trying to relax, but here you are, with a thousand comments and questions, ruining that effort."

Zipp's jaw worked. "Okay, you're making it difficult to see you in a positive light. Why are you so defensive? I just wanted to see what you were about."

Allura turned, lashing her tail once. "Because I don't want to be here, and nocreature seems capable, and willing, to get me where I do want to be."

"And where's that?" Zipp drew out a notepad with one wing and a pen in the other to scribble notes. "That would get us somewhere."

"I don't remember!" Her voice raised several octaves, her fur standing on end. "If I remembered where home was, I wouldn't be stuck here!" She sank to her haunches. "I swear, you ponies do love repeating the same question. Are you trying to annoy me?"

Zipp scribbled down a note. "You're very hostile when uncomfortable."

"I am a large predatory cat!" Allura hissed softly at Zipp. "What are you doing with that?" She swatted the pad, sending it flying a few feet away.

"Hey!" Zipp quickly grabbed the notepad up. "I'm taking notes on you, so we can figure out how to help. You're welcome!" She scrawled a few extra lines.

Allura snapped her head to Zipp, glaring. "Don't write about me. I'm not your fun weekend project. I am not a cat to be coddled, pet, and fawned over. I am a fearsome creature of legend."

Zipp took in the sight. "Right, terrifying." She held up a hoof. "I mean, you are, really. But we have a truce, right? You're just another creature enjoying the ship right now. Come on, Allura, it's not a bad thing to enjoy something. You're not betraying your people, or yourself, or whatever, by having fun."

The ice leopard looked away with a sigh. "Of course you don't understand. Look, I have one little thing I want. That's it."

Zipp scribbled that down as well. "Go back home, find your brother."

"Yes!" She jabbed a claw at the notepad, stopping just short of touching it. "That's it. Why is that so hard to accept? Nopony will listen to that!" She glanced back. "Except her. But even then she has a lot of rules." Allura mused quietly a moment. "I don't suppose you know how to get Comforting to use her magic and fix something?"

"Have you tried asking?" Zipp suggested. "I mean, she is really powerful, but also kinda shy. So maybe ask, nicely."

Allura lashed her tail, frosty air swirling around her in a light mist. "I did try that. She seemed more eager to see me 'try harder' in some way. A lamp of wishes, if one knows how to ask them. She is an infuriating creature." She smiled to herself. "Still better than most others."

Zipp looked around slowly, before turning back to Allura. "And, just checking, you're enjoying yourself, right?"

"I'm..." She took a sip at her drink. "No comment." She flopped facing away from Zipp. "Shoo, pegasus. Find a different creature to interrogate. Maybe I'll talk to you again. When you have something worth talking about." She curled up, tail laying along her side.

Author's Note

Poor Allura. She's still a bad kitty.

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