The spiked cocktail’s beds were by far the most comfortable beds I had ever had the pleasure of sleeping on. A wonderfully rough canvass bag that had been filled with clothing scraps, making it soft and squishy, allowing me to sink into it and surrounding me with warm softness, almost like sleeping on a cloud.

Pot and Muddler had chatted for a while after we had worked out our deal. At first I wasn’t too happy about leaving most of our guns here, but after thinking about it some more I realized that it was probably for the better. I couldn’t really use all those guns at once, and the poor ponies of Marepoint Fort clearly needed better defense. Muddler had promised that they would make sure the guns went to whoever needed them most.

Something weird occurred after dinner, which consisted of fish fillets and little else. I thought Pot would want to catch up fully with his old friend, but as soon as I excused myself, saying I was a little tired, Pot had done the same, leaving towards the room as well.

Weirder still, as soon as we had dragged the three metal boxes into the room and closed the door, he had gone into a frenzy. The earth pony stallion checked every single floorboard and wall for… something.

He had pulled the curtains open and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the thick steel bars on the windowframe. Seemingly unsatisfied, however, he gave every bar a tentative tug and nodded when he comfirmed that they wouldn’t budge. He’d asked Narrative to press himself against the door to the room, as if to act as a living barricade. I noticed that he took everything off to sleep except for his holster, which felt a little excessive even to me. But The final weird request had come in the morning.

As soon as we had woken up, the stallion had asked me to make sure I was wide awake before we headed out of the room.

“Yeah, good idea,” I said, realizing that we weren’t out of the woods yet and I might still have to fight.

I knew exactly how to wake myself up, as I had stayed up late many a night back in the stable and been forced to shake it off quickly the next day. As soon as Pot had told me to sober up, I dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups. I could feel the sleep being torn from my bones as the blood pumped through my veins.

I wonder what Light Show is up to? I thought wistfully, suddenly filling with concern for the other fillies still trapped under those impostors. I had to find them help on the other side of the bay, no matter what. Hopefully I could find a good spot to drop Pot and Narrative off and be on my way to find ponies.

…Or maybe one of the others will wise up to those damned research impostors! I half-thought, half-prayed. Gamma Ray would be the most likely candidate, being the oldest colt. Sure, he wasn’t as smart as I was, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have some brains in him!

For now just focus on the task at hoof, protect Pot and Narrative, and look for ponies who can help.

I sprung up to my hooves and smiled broadly at Pot, who had kept an eyebrow up during my entire exercise routine.

“Good to go!” I chirped.

“You are a very peculiar pony,” The stallion said.

“Agreed,” Narrative added from his spot by the door.

“Nah… I’m special!” I said with a chuckle, remembering the posters we had back in the stable clinic.

We made our way to the main bar area, where we were met by Muddler, who was stitting at one of the tables.

“Wakey wakey!” The stallion boomed as soon as his eyes fell on us. “How’d ya sleep?”

“Are those the same mattresses you had last year?” Pot asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Muddler threw his head back in laughter before replying.

“Nope! Those got stolen a few months ago, that’s why Ah had the window bars installed. The ones y’all slept on are a couple years old,”

“How nice of you…” Pot mumbled.

“Ah do try!” Muddler answered, giving the shorter earth pony a grin before gesturing to the table. “Come! Get some food in ya before ya head out,”

Pot and I approached the table slowly. I noticed that two additional plates had been set out in front of Muddler’s. Some brownish pink mush sat in the middle of each plate, accompanied by some rice and a glass of mostly-clear water.

“It’s tuna,” Muddler explained, “We grind it up like that because most ponies don’t like the way they’re covered in eyes,”

“You eat fish for breakfast?” I asked, curious.

“It’s the only damn thing we eat,” Muddler replied with a pained chuckle.

We sat down at the table and started eating, it didn’t take long before Muddler spoke up again, clearly anxious about something.

“So you’re leaving the guns here?” He asked.

“And the ammo,” Pot added after he swallowed. “We’re keeping one of the shotguns, the fancy sights from one of the rifles, and one of the ten milimeter SMGs along with some ammo, everything else is yours,”

I nodded in agreement, my whole muzzle covered in rice grains that stuck to it, flinging some ofthem all over the table before I shoved my face back into my plate.

“Well what can Ah say? If that doesn’t put this lil’ town back on the map then Ah don’t know what will,” The hatted stallion exclaimed.

I opened my mouth to ask why being a bigger target would be a good thing, but Pot beat me to it and spoke first.

“So, anyway, when are we leaving?”

“Honestly? Ah have no idea. The boat should be in, but it leaves whenever the captain says,” Muddler replied, taking a sip of his water. “Y’all can go ask him at the docks ah guess, ask for Nilcoar… he’s really hard to miss,” He added.

His words piqued my interest, I wondered who this captain would be.

“We will,” Pot agreed, taking another bite of his tuna and nodding. “This is surprisingly good,”

“Ah know, it’s the best we have,” Muddler said with a wide smile. “That’s twenty caps a piece, by the way, and ya got two on your plate”

Pot stared at the other earth pony with a deadpan expression.

“Really?” He asked, unamused.

The town was a lot less lively than it had been the previous day. Perhaps it was just too early, but whatever the reason may be, there were only a couple ponies walking around. Most of the stores were closed as well, with only a boat repair shop and a general store being open.

We made our way onto the main street and turned to face the docks. Just as we did, however, a unicorn stallion wearing a stained yellow raincoat stepped directly in my way. His coat was a weathered red, and a light brown mane poked out from underneath his yellow rain hat as he looked at me and spoke.

“Yer the one from the radio…” He said.

His horn lit up with a baby blue shine, but for some reason I didn’t feel threatened by it. The same could not be said about Pot, who immediately jumped back and lowered his head towards his holster.

The stallion either didn’t see what he was doing or didn’t pay him any mind, instead digging through his raincoat and producing a bottle of something wrapped in a brown bag. He took a swig of it and shivered softly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

“Zebra-lookin’, got a big metal thing following ya…” The stallion continued, taking another swig from his bottle. “And ya got a magic bracelet,” He added, pointing at my PipBuck with his bottle.

“What?” I asked, confused. That sounded nothing like me!

“Yes, yer the one that’s been destroyin’ settlements up north,” The stallion continued. “We don’t like yer kind of folk here…”

Ohhh I’m raffling a bullet and this guy’s buying all the numbers…

“Excuse me? I have not destroyed any settlements, whoever you are talking about is not me,” I said at the stallion, my tone rising as I opened my holster for quicker access with a magical flash.

“Black Light…” Pot warned.

I was not about to listen to this slander any longer! Who did this stallion even think he was? He was nothing but an old stupid surface dweller whose empty brains I could blast onto the street before he could even think about taking another swig from that bottle. No, he didn’t even deserve a bullet, I could probably twist his head off with pure magic alone!

Oh you are gonna get it…

But my fiery temper was soured slightly when I noticed the two rifle-sporting stallions set up on the roofs at either side of the street. We were too exposed for a firefight here. Lucky bastard wouldn’t get hit by anything other than my furious glare.

“Heh, wouldn’t ya know…” The stallion said, turning his bottle around and letting a yellowish drop fall to the floor. “Good day to ya, don’t go cursin’ our town now,” He added before chcuking the bottle off to the side and walking off.

“If I could curse it, I would, purely because of him,” I grumbled once the stallion was out of earshot.

“Fear. Perhaps try not to say such things around other ponies,” Narrative stated from behind me.

“Whatever just… let’s go find this Nilcoar stallion before anything worse happens,” Pot said, eyeing the ponies aroud us nervously.

The stallion’s extreme paranoia was starting to get on my nerves. What could he be so worried about? Sure, the infuriating old stallion had stopped us in the middle of the street just to insult me, but with the way Pot was acting you’d think we were in an active warzone.

We finished rounding the corner and came to the end of the town. The only buildings that stood beyond this point were a couple of lifeguard huts and some shacks along the docks.

“I guess Muddler was right about our ship…” Pot commented.

I followed his gaze and confirmed it for myself.

He really is hard to miss…

On the dock sat a bright yellow sailboat with a maroon cabin. The extreme contrast between the boat’s colors and the drab dock made it nearly impossible to tear my eyes off it. Two identical stallions were standing on the deck, hauling ropes from one end of the ship to the other.

The ship was huge, I couldn’t tell exactly how big it was, but it was at least two train wagons long. A black mast stretched out into the sky from the middle of the cabin, easily just as long as the boat itself if not more. A large black bag hung perpendicular behind the mast, with the word ‘Dragonfly’ embroidered into it. The front of the ship was hooked to the tip of the mast by an incredibly thick rope, almost as thick as my head was wide.

We walked closer to the ship, right up to the edge of the dock. As we approached, a huge reddish-brown stallion climbed out of the tiny door in the back of the boat.

Could that be the pony we’re looking for? I wondered.

The stallion had their eyes covered by some kind of wool hat… no… it was hair! His mane was so long and thick that it looked like a hat had been drawn over his eyes. His immense head scanned the dock before coming to a stop when he noticed us. Much to my surprise, the stallion simply turned around and climbed back into the ship.

He was swiftly replaced by another stallion whose head was adorned by an enormous red hat. He had a short, creamy white mane that poked out from underneath the hat. And his teal coat stood out against his crew’s darker colors. I noticed the immense red stallion pointing at us with a hoof from inside the ship.

The stallion with the hat walked towards us, swaying weirdly as he approached. It almost looked like the floor was swinging underneath him, despite it being completely solid. He wore a long blue coat with two wide-barreled pistols hanging from his front legs. A curved sword hung at his side, swaying along with his step.

“Are you three the passengers Muddler told me about?” The stallion exclaimed in a bombastic tone, stopping in front of us and puffing out his chest.

“Ye-“ Pot started, but he was cut off by the stallion once more.

“Sensational! The name is Nilcoar Scaggs,” He said, shaking Pot’s prosthetic leg vigorously and making the stallion wince. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had new faces on board

The stallion paused for a moment, his smile faltering as his eyes seemed to look straight through us.

“New faces that stayed on their heads, at least…” He commented before shuddering and remaining silent.

“So we-“ Pot started, only to be cut off mid sentence.

“But we don’t have any reason to worry about that! …I think… yeah probably,” Nilcoar stated. “Do you have any luggage other than that box on your metal friend?” He inquired, gesturing at Narrative with his head.

I turned around to look at the robot, who had the box that we had stuffed all our caps into slung over his back.

“Yeah, plus our saddlebags,” Pot said, finally able to finish a sentence.

Nilcoar beamed at us.

“Marvelous! We’re still going to be a little pressed for space with him though…” He said, cocking his head to the side to look at Narrative better. “Say, you don’t sleep, do you?”

“Fear. No, why?” Narrative replied.

Nilcoar turned around to look at his ship for a moment, mumbling under his breath.

“We might be able to squeeze him in the back. Would make it harder to get in or out of the ship, but I really don’t know where else to put him,” The captain said. “Maybe if we bought a dhingi…”

“Fear. That will not be needed,” Narrative interjected.

“D’aww, you’re no fun!” The hatted stallion replied, chuckling.

I watched as the two identical stallions I had seen before jumped onto the dock, each wearing an identical set of saddlebags. They started to make their way towards the town, but they stopped in place when the captain whistled at them.

“So! This is my crew,” Nilcoar started. “We have Simi and Hiri,” He said, pointing at each of the two stallions in turn.

“Actually, he’s Simi,” The stallion on the left said, gesturing at the one on the right.

“Tsk tsk, no he’s not,” Nicloar said before turning towards me and Pot. “They’re pranksters, but you won’t find better sail trimmers anywhere,”

I glanced at the ship, noticing that the sail was nowhere to be seen. Nowhere, that is, unless it was stashed inside the bag that hung off the mast. I could see how trimming would be needed to fit it in there… but how did they use it then? Was it in multiple pieces?

“Griff ran off to buy some more fishing supplies, so you’ll meet him later,” The captain explained, but my eyes were fixed on the ship, which had started to wobble slightly.

As I watched, the huge red stallion climbed out of the boat and jumped onto the dock, shaking the ship as he did. The ropes that had been tied from the boat to a series of metal stool-things on the pier went taut but held.

“And last but definitely not least, this is Vissnir,” Nilcoar continued. “Best cook you’ll ever meet,”

The cook glared at me… or at least I supposed he did, truth be told I couldn’t tell exactly what he was looking at. His head being slightly pulled upwards made me think that perhaps he was staring at my horn, however. And he looked rather tense.

“Hah! I doubt he cooks better than Pot,” I said, nudging the blue earth pony in question with a forehoof.

The captain’s eyes seemed to twinkle as a wide smile parted his features, revealing two lines of perfect white teeth.

“We shall have a mid-bay cooking contest!” He exclaimed, throwing a forehoof triumphantly into the air. “Yes, it will be legendary!”

The red stallion, Vissnir, blew air out his nose before replying in a voice so deep I could feel it in my bones.

“Fine, I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do,”

I heard Pot gulp audibly next to me.

“Aww don’t look so scared!” Nilcoar said. “It’s not like we’ll cook you for dinner if you lose! Not that you have much meat on you anyway, mister…?” He continued, trailing off and looking at Pot inquisitively.

“Pot,” Pot replied dryly.

“Pot what? Blue Pot? Terracota Pot? Porta Pot-y?” The captain asked.

“Just Pot,” The earth pony replied, his voice and face making it abundantly clear that he did not find the exchange humorous.

“Sour Pot, got it!” Nilcoar said, grinning.

The stallion lifted a forehoof and reached under his big red hat, pulling out… a banana?

“Here you go, this might get your spirits up!” He said, offering it to Pot.

The blue earth pony looked at the fruit with a furrowed brow for a couple seconds before speaking again.

“I’m good,”

Nilcoar simply shrugged his shoulders and then sat on his haunches. I watched in silent awe as the stallion clapped his forehooves around the banana, causing the fruit to be propelled into the sky out of its skin. It flew quite some distance upwards before falling directly into the captain’s mouth, who swallowed it in a single go.

Completely shocked by the feat, I could do nothing other than sit on my own haunches and clap my forehooves together. This was much appreciated by our hatted acquaintance, who gave me a respectful bow.

“Please, please, you’re too kind,” He said. “Would you like a banana, miss?”

The mere mention of food was enough to make my stomach roar to life like a tank engine.

“Absolutely!” I said with a wide smile.

“Good answer!” Nilcoar replied, pulling another banana out from under his hat. “Maybe not this one…” He added when he stared at the fruit.

On the stallion’s hoof sat what I could only describe as a skinned banana. Not a regular one with the skin peeled off, but rather one that looked like skinned flesh arranged in the shape of a banana. As I stared in silent horror, I could make out blood vessels on the fruit’s surface pumping what I could only assume to be blood.

In a single motion, the stallion stuffed the abomination under his hat and pulled out a normal, yellow banana in its stead.

“There we go!” He said happily as he threw it at me.

I wrapped the fruit in my magic and peeled one end, bringing it up to my mouth for a bite. The taste was extremely pleasant, nothing at all like what I had read in books!

Then again, I’m pretty sure that book was talking about banana bubblegum, not bananas themselves…

Whatever the case, I kept eating the delicious yellow treat as Nilcoar cocked his head to the side so he could stare at Narrative.

“And I’ll say. I’ve had all sorts of weird passengers on the Dragonfly, but I’ve never had to ferry a…” The captain paused for a moment, as if to think, “What are you exactly?”

“I am a pegasus, my name is Narrative Lampshade,” The robot droned in reply.

“A pegasus?” Nilcoar repeated, his right eyebrow lifting so high it nearly touched the brim of his hat. “Sure, and I’m princess Celestia,” He added, chuckling softly.

“Sadness. I may not have my body, but I am still a pegasus,” Narrative said.

The captain’s face lost its smile. And he spoke with a calmer, friendlier tone.

“And I’m not actually Princess Celestia. Could you imagine? I wouldn’t fit below deck!”

Nilcoar chuckled, finding the thought amusing, and then turned to me just as I finished swallowing the last bite of the banana.

“And who might you be?” He asked, the faintest ghost of a smile twisting the edges of his mouth. “If it weren’t for the literal brain in a jar then you would be my strangest passenger!”

I puffed out my chest pridefully and took in. Deep breath before booming at the stallion.

“I am Black Light! Hero of the surface! I was sent from Stable 75 to free the wasteland from any ne’er-do-wells and villains!”

Nilcoar’s eyes widened, sparking a tentative sense of hope in my chest. Could I have finally found a pony who knew about the stable?

It would make sense, after all, if he was a ferry captain then he must’ve seen any graduate that made their way across the bay!

“Never heard of it, but it sounds great!” Nilcoar said, dashing my hopes before they had even finished forming.

The captain looked at our saddlebags once again, then at his ship.

“Say, you ponies wouldn’t have any issue waiting here on the pier for a bit, right?” He asked. “We still need to buy some stuff for the trip, and I’d rather get that sorted out before we load mister metalbutt on the ship,”

“Fine by me!” I chirped.

“Absolutely not, I’m not gonna stand around in the open,” Pot interjected.

Nilcoar raised an eyebrow at the earth pony, surprised at the sudden outburst. I turned to look at him too, confused.

“You two can get settled inside the ship if you want, but he’s staying out here until we’re done loading up,” The captain offered, pointing at Narrative.

“I’ll stay out here with him, you can get on the ship,” I told Pot, getting a resolute nod from the stallion.

“It’s settled then, we’ll head out in an hour or so!” Nilcoar said with a wide smile.

Pot nodded and walked up to the boat, eyeing the open part at the back tentatively. I followed his gaze, seeing that the rear area of the ship had two long seats that stretched all the way to the flat end of the boat, where a single black motor could be seen. The fact that the outer cover was covered in duct tape and had exposed wiring sticking out struck me as odd, but I didn’t know enough about sailing to say for sure if it was a bad thing.

“Well go on then, jump on!” Nilcoar said, chuckling.

“Like just… a jump?” Pot asked, hesitantly taking a step towards the edge of the ship.

“Well yeah… try to land on the boat tho, I’m not jumping in the water to pull you out!” The captain added.

Pot muttered something and launched himself onto the boat. His prosthetic leg popped out of place, sending him face first into the bottom of the ship. He twisted onto his side and brought his good forehoof up to rub his muzzle.

I opened my mouth to ask if he was okay. But before I could say a single word, Nilcoar jumped onto the ship and helped him back to his hooves.

“Up you go, friend,” The stallion said, offering his side for support. “I’ll say that’s got to be the worst peg leg I’ve ever seen,” He added, staring at the prosthetic.

Pot mumbled something I couldn’t quite catch and quickly adjusted his leg again.

“Come, I’ll show you the ship,” Nilcoar said, leading the way into the cabin.

Narrative and I stayed on the dock for a while longer. He didn’t really feel like chatting, however, so I simply looked around at the other ponies.

The town slowly started to buzz with activity as the day went on. And I watched as another boat pulled into the port. It was much smaller than the Dragonfly, but it also appeared to be much better suited for battle.

Instead of some crimson and yellow paint, this ship had been outfitted with metal plates and what appeared to be multiple bulletproof vests slung along the sides. A large brass cannon had been mounted where the mast would have been.

I would’ve found it odd that the ship could move at all, until I saw, and most importantly heard, the twin motors that hung behind it. A simple flag was mounted to a pole that stuck out from one of the motors, with what looked like two blue ‘B’s drawn over a black background.

Wonder who they work for… I thought as I watched two grizzled stallions climb out of the ship and onto the pier through a submarine-like hatch in the middle of the cabin.

One of the two was wearing a deep blue leather hat, his gaze immediately locked onto the Dragonfly before spotting me. His head cocked to the side, eyebrow raised, and he turned around to say something to his companion.

The other stallion stared at me as well, brow furrowed. Something about their attitude didn’t sit well with me…

I watched as a green flash appeared at the side of the hatted stallion, opening a holster that hung at his side. I realized that the stallion was probably a unicorn whose horn remained hidden under his hat. The other stallion climbed into the boat again.

What are you up to… I wondered as I opened my own holster.

“Narrative… go over there,” I said, pointing at a pile of boxes that were a little distance away from us.

“Fear. What is the matter?” The robot asked.

“I don’t like those two…” I said simply, keeping my eyes fixed on the other boat.

The second stallion joined their friend on the pier, where I noticed that he was now wearing a battle saddle. A single rifle hung off his left side, and while the trigger hung off to the side, it was clear that he had every intention of using the weapon.

They walked closer to us. The one with the hat kept their eyes focused on me, but their friend shot a glance at the Dragonfly.

I followed their gaze, seeing that they were looking at Vissnir. The massive red stallion had opened their own holster and was walking up to get closer to the approaching stallions. His expression was uneasy, but not outright aggressive.

The stallion with the hat stopped a short distance away from me, glancing at my PipBuck for a second before returning his gaze to my eyes.

“Hello there,” He said, revealing that he had several missing teeth.

“Hi,” I replied simply, raising an eyebrow at the pony.

He nodded oddly, glancing at my PipBuck and my face again.

“Say, ye would happen t’be a witch, are ya?” The stallion asked. “Zebra witch,” He elaborated.

Again with the zebra stuff, it’s like they’ve never seen a pony with stripes before!

“Uhhh no?” I offered. “I’m just a pony,”

“What like, normal pony?” The other stallion inquired.

“Yeah?” I answered, confused.

The two stallions fell quiet for a few seconds, looking at each other.

“Where’d you get that fancy bracelet?” The stallion with the hat asked.

“She bought it from your mother,” Vissnir boomed, walking up to stand between me and the pair.

The two stallions glared daggers at the large red pony. Their expressions made my horn almost start to light up with the need to draw my gun. The stallion with the hat was quick to somewhat soothe my nerves by smiling at the cook.

“Vissnir, old friend, how’re the waves treatin’ ya?” He asked.

“We already paid all the stupid fees your boss wants, stop bothering our passengers, Compass” Vissnir replied, ignoring the stallion’s question.

“No need t’be hostile, lad,” Compass replied, raising a forehoof. “Where’s yer captain?

“Right here!” Nilcoar exclaimed, jumping out of his ship and onto the pier.

The captain waltzed towards the two stallions, smiling broadly. When he got close enough, he reached under his hat and pulled out a banana.

“What a lovely day to not be working under some old geezer’s hoof, isn’t it?” Nilcoar asked, peeling his banana.

Compass stared at the captain with a deadpan expression.

“Hardy har,” He said, rolling his eyes.

“I know, I’m hilarious,” Nilcoar continued, taking a bite from his banana.

Compass tensed up more, his eyes dartingdsrting between all of us. I kept my gaze focused on his holster, waiting for the slightest indication of a magical glow. My ears swiveled around to try and pick up the sound of magic coming from underneath his hat, but I could hardly hear anything other than Nilcoar’s chewing.

“Now why don’t you two get lost?” Nilcoar said after swallowing. “Wouldn’t wanna be late with your cargo declaration…” He added, gesturing towards the other stallion’s boat.

“Aye… but before we leave,” Compass started, turning to look at me. “I wanted t’ask for yer name, miss…?”

“Black Light, hero of the surface,” I said. “You two better not get any ideas while I’m around,” I added, glaring at Compass and his companion.

Both of their expressions hardened. I noticed that the stallion with the battle saddle angled themselves to aim at me more directly.

“Is that a threat, lass?” Compass asked.

Come on, Black Light, think of something heroic and inspiring! What could it be… something about justice? Oh! I know…

“I don’t make threats,” I started, adjusting my stance slightly into a more battle-ready position. “I just shoot anypony foalish enough to try and stop me from bringing justice back to the surface,”

The stallion smiled, as if he were holding back laughter, but my dead serious face seemed to dispel whatever he had found humorous.

“Now now, we don’t want anypony shooting anypony,” Nilcoar said, lifting his forehooves. “Let’s just calm down, okay?”

“Fine by me,” Compass said, blowing air out of his nostrils. “Come on, let’s go,” He added, leaning towards his companion.

The two ponies walked off, but I kept my magic at the ready in case they decided to flip around and attack us when our guard was down. They didn’t, however, instead simply melting away into the growing crowd of Marepoint Fort.

“Here comes a big one!” Nilcoar announced, clutching onto the long lever that moved the ship’s rudder.

The captain threw his weight against the lever, turning the ship enough to catch the wave with the front. It still rocked the ship significantly, forcing me to lean back in my seat.

I was seated in the back of the ship, on the left side. Nilcoar was at the very end, on the right side, holding onto the rudder with both forehooves. Between us stood Narrative, tied to the boat with a pair of ratchet straps.

A strange contraption was attached to the floor in between the robot’s treads. It was a series of pulleys that held a thick black rope, which then stretched out to the bottom of the stick that held the sail-bag thing. The boom, Nilcoar had called it. He had protested at the idea of Narrative being between the rudder and the boom-ropes, but had given up after several attempts to reorient the brainbot.

“How are you liking the Dragonfly?” Nilcoar roared over the crashing waves, throwing his head back and taking in a deep breath.

“This is amazing!” I shouted back giggling.

And it was true, too. Ever since we had left the port I had been glued to my seat, watching as the brownish water around us stirred, pushed, and pulled. I hadn’t even gone into the ship’s cockpit yet, that’s how strong the effect of looking at the water was.

Pot, on the other hoof, hadn’t come out of the ship ever since he had gone down at the port. According to Vissnir, he had fallen asleep shortly after we left. It made sense too, for whatever reason the earth pony hadn’t slept too well at the spiked cocktail.

The bay’s waters were vast. I could still kinda see Marepoint fort behind us, but it was rapidly disappearing. Ahead was… nothing, just empty water.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the wind blowing through my mane, smiling.

“Shouldn’t we see the other end of the bay?” I asked the captain.

“Noah, we’re too far out for that,” The stallion replied. “And the other end of the bay is actually that way,” He added, pointing at the horizon on the right side of the ship.

I whipped around to stare at the captain, raising an eyebrow.

“Why aren’t we heading that way, then?” I asked.

Nilcoar pointed with a forehoof at a small screen that was next to the cockpit door.

“Can you read that? Look for the depth indicator,” He said.

I tried to lean over, almost losing my balance when the ship hit another wave. I resolved to simply jumping up and throwing my flanks into the seat on the opposite side, leaving me seated next to the screen Nilcoar had pointed at.

“Two… fathoms?” I asked, cocking my head at the strange measurement.

“It’s about twenty-eight hooves,” The captain stated.

“Oh, I see,” I said.

“Well, that’s because we’re still close to the bay,” Nilcoar continued. “I don’t know how exactly, but when the moon got left to its own devices, the tides went completely crazy. Whatever they did, it made the central part of the bay into a quite literally unfathomable pit,”

I lifted a forehoof up to my chin, trying to wrap my head around the new information.

“Wait so how deep is that part?” I asked.

“It’s… it’s un fathomable… it can’t be fathomed,” Nilcoar replied, raising en eyebrow.

“Well why not use a different unit to measure it?” I wondered. “Like, if fathoms don’t work,”

Narrative, who had up to now remained completely quiet, slammed his working claw into his brain jar in a rather scuffed approximation of a facehoof.

“Anger. Black Light, he is saying that this area is too deep to measure,” The robot droned.

“Ohhhhhh,” I said, clicking my tongue. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

“That is exactly what I said,” Nilcoar replied, raising an eyebrow.

I chuckled at the stallion, not really wanting to continue discussing his poor choice of words. Instead, I turned around to stare at the horizon again, enjoying the breeze.

The sail was off to the right side of the boat, puffing out nicely and revealing that it was covered in patches of different colors. The thick rope I had seen before was actually a second triangular sail, which looked to be in much better condition than the main one. Both sails pulled the ship along at a rather impressive speed. Not that I had the faintest idea of how fast we were actually going, since there weren’t any landmarks around.

I stared at the front of the boat, where a young colt named Grif was sitting at the very tip and holding up a telescope. He was the youngest member of Nilcoar’s crew, and had been the most surprised to see what me and my friends looked like.

“Captain! We have a sunken ship off to port ahead!” The young pony shouted.

To port? I wondered, craning my head off the side of the ship to try and spot this mysterious port. Much to my surprise, there was no port in sight. Poor kid, he must be seeing things, probably some kind of developmental disorder. Yet another cruelty of the surface.

“Aye!” He boomed, much to my surprise.

The stallion threw himself against the rudder, making the ship veer to the right.

“What was that about?” I asked. “There’s no port out here!”

Nilcoar nodded and looked at me with a proud expression.

“Right you are, miss Black Light, there are no ports out here. I see your skills of deduction are as sharp as your senses,” He said, nodding resolutely. “However, Grif was referring to the direction, so port is the right side of the ship,” He explained.

I couldn’t help but grin at the stallion’s compliment, finally feeling that my intellect was validated by another pony. I opened my mouth to speak, but I didn’t get the chance to.

“What? Isn’t that the left side?” Narrative interrupted. “Left and port both have four letters, it’s easy to remember,”

The captain shook his head before staring out into the horizon, his eyes holding memories of days long gone.

“Funny story about that actually,” He started, keeping his gaze on the horizon. “There was this one time where I was fighting a giant squid… and then suddenly it hit me…”

The stallion trailed off, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile as the memory replayed within his mind.

“…What hit you? The squid?” I asked.

“Oh yes, a lot. But the other thing that hit me was…” He continued, turning to me and grinning as if he had just made a mind-shattering breakthrough. “Why is the right side called starboard if you can’t see the stars anymore?”

My brow furrowed in concentration, but I nodded along as I tried to wrap my head around this new knowledge.

“That makes sense…” I muttered, trying to sound intelligent.

“I know!” Nilcoar agreed. “And then I also realized that you can park a ship at a port… with both sides of the ship! So I renamed starboard to port!”

“Anger. But if you renamed starboard to port, then what do you call the left side of the ship?” Narrative droned.

“Port two, of course,” The captain chirped back, grinning proudly.

Narrative’s brain jar turned slightly reddish as a gush of blood shot out from the side of the floating organ. I almost asked if he was alright, but the bloodied fluid was swiftly cleared by his robot body.

“May I be unhooked so that I can throw myself out of the ship?” The robot asked.

”Absolutely not!” Nilcoar snapped back. “You’re probably full of batteries and other nasty things that would completely destroy the ocean’s delicate ecosystem!”

Narrative shifted around on the bottom of the ship, as if he had just tried to turn around to face the captain.

”Ah, yes, wouldn’t want to contaminate the balefire wasteland,” The robot droned.

”Exactly! Good to see that others are just as concerned about the three-headed trout population as I am,” Nilcoar said, reaching into his hat and pulling out a banana.

As soon as he tried to bite into the top to peel it, however, the fruit let out an ear-piercing screech from the opposite end, where it opened up in three separate directions, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. The captain opened his mouth in surprise, giving the banana a window to leap off the pony’s face and onto Narrative’s back.

”Oh you slippery bastard!” Nilcoar exclaimed, whipping his head into his coat for a moment before pulling out some kind of contraption.

Is that a flintlock…

”Mhhp hmmph!” The stallion mumbled around the mouth-grip before chomping into it.

A huge puff of smoke enveloped the gun, with an even larger one shooting out of the front. The water splashed a good distance away from the boat.

When the smoke cleared, I saw that the banana was completely unharmed, as the captain had missed entirely. The banana creature split open again to screech at the stallion before opening up fully and… flying off?

I watched in silent awe as the fruit flew off like some kind of messed up bird.

“Drat, almost got it,” Nicloar pouted after spitting his pistol into his forehooves.

The stallion gave the rudder a kick with a hindleg, almost by reflex. I followed the motion curiously and noticed that the metal bar had locked itself into place thanks to a series of rope loops, keeping it mostly steady.

Nilcoar then carefully reloaded his pistol, letting me watch silently with twinkling eyes. The reloading process would’ve been difficult for me to do as a unicorn, let alone for an earth pony!

He reached under his hat and pulled out a metal banana that was decorated with an intricate brass design. Holding it in his forehooves, The captain bit the end of the banana and pulled the cap off. He then carefully grabbed the banana with his mouth and brought the muzzle of the gun upwards, pouring a strange red powder into it.

The stallion lowered the pistol to hold it between his thighs as he capped the banana again and stuffed it under his hat. He shoved his muzzle into a pocket on his coat and pulled out a small metal ball wrapped in a piece of cloth that he placed in the gun’s barrel.

“I can’t tell the flying ones apart by touch yet,” He muttered.

I wonder if Pot could reload a pistol like that…

Nilcoar pulled a metal stick out of the pistol and used it to force the ball deeper into the gun. Once satisfied, the stallion put the gun back into his holster and took position next to the rudder once again.

“We’re gonna be sailing until tomorrow morning, you can go into the ship if you want,” The captain said.

I considered my options. On one hoof, I really wanted to stay out here and enjoy the breeze. On the other, however, I was very curious as to what the ship’s interior looked like. Shrugging softly, I made my way into the cabin of the ship.

If I had to describe the inside of the cabin with a single word, it would be ‘efficient’. The steps that led from the door were actually a sink which had rubber spots on its edge for easier climbing. The central area of the ship was taken up by a long wooden table above which hung a strange black device with hooks and chains on its underside, it was barely the size of my head.

A long seat wrapped all the way around the front of the ship, upon which sat Pot, Vissnir, and Hiri. The lone twin waved a hoof at me as if to say hello. The other two stallions hed clearly just been talking, judging by their expressions, but they had fallen quiet when I climbed into the ship.

He looks tense… I noted, staring at Vissnir.

The immense red stallion got up, which wasn’t an easy task given how little space was available inside the ship.

”I’ll be outside,” He rumbled, walking past me and climbing up the stairs before shutting the door behind him.

I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but my train of thought derailed when a small door on the left of the ship opened, revealing Simi, who had crammed themselves in what I assumed to be a wardrobe. He stumbled out of the compartment, followed by a distinctively foul odor.

”This is the bathroom, if you need it,” He explained, gesturing towards the door with his head.

”I wouldn’t use it right now if I were you,” Hiri interjected. “You’d probably die after closing the door,”

I whipped my head around to face the twin that had just spoke.

”Why? What’s in there?” I asked, confused.

”He’s just being dramatic,” Simi said, rolling his eyes.

I chuckled softly. Finally understanding the joke.

Simi walked towards the front of the ship and took a seat next to Hiri before reaching behind him and pulling a cup out of… somewhere? I glanced around the stallion and noticed that the edge of the ship was one giant shelf, closed off with an elastic net.

How did I not notice that? I wondered as I looked around at the many objects that were stashed behind the net. Cups, plates, a fan, lamps, clothes, small bottles and flasks. I also noticed that there was a wide seat behind me, underneath the outer seat where Nilcoar was sitting. Having the seat on top made the already cramped interior of the ship look wide open by comparison, barely leaving enough space above that seat to crawl on top of it.

”How are you supposed to sit in there?” I asked, pointing at the weirdly positioned area.

”You don’t, that’s the captain’s bed,” Hiri explained.

”Oh, it’s a bed. That makes sense,” I said.

I walked up to Pot and sat beside him. The stallion shifted uncomfortably in place, dragging himself a short distance away from me. I slipped out of my saddlebags and used my magic to open up my jumpsuit partially, taking a deep, relaxed breath.

“How do you like the boat?” I asked him, smiling.

”I just want to get to the other side of the bay, at least these seats are comfortable,” The blue earth pony replied.

I shifted around on the blue cushion below me. It wasn’t as soft as the beds at the Spiked Cocktail, but they were still very comfortable.

“What were you and Vissnir talking about?” I asked.

The stallion glanced at my horn for a split second before replying.

“Just… life,” He said simply.

Not in a talking mood…

I decided to respect the stallion’s silence, instead focusing on the twins.

The two stallions had expanded the central table, pulling additional panels up from the sides to make it wider. On top of the table they set up a metal chessboard and got to work on painstakingly setting up the thirty-two knights needed for chess. Despite the boat’s constant movement, none of the pieces moved unless one of the twins touched it.

After about an hour, both stallions had come to a stalemate, after which they simply shook each other’s hooves and put the chess board away. Nilcoar climbed into the cabin for a moment and retrieved a large canvas bag from underneath one of the beds.

I poked my head outside to see what it was, where I noticed that Vissnir and Narrative were talking. Just like with Pot earlier, however, he went quiet the moment his eyes fell on me.

Something is definitely up with him… I thought, but I couldn’t put my hoof on it. I wasn’t concerned, of course, Nilcoar clearly trusted him, and Pot hadn’t warned me about him being weird in the slightest. And I knew Pot would never try to hurt me by hiding information!

It’s probably nothing…

Through the small windows near the roof I watched as the clouds turned orange and then slowly faded to gray, before finally coating us in darkness. The water around the ship was pitch black, even when the light of the windows shone upon it, making it look as if we were sailing through a sea of ink.

I poked my head out of the cabin once more, where I discovered that the canvas bag that Nilcoar had dragged outside was a special tent of sorts that completely covered the open rear area of the boat. The plastic seats on either side of the ship had also been outfitted with cushions much like the ones inside.

“Hiri, Simi, I need the main sail stashed,” Nilcoar said, poking his head into the cabin.

”Aye aye captain!” The twins replied at the exact same time before darting out of the cabin.

I tried to follow them out of curiosity, as I wondered how exactly they intended to trim the sail when neither of them had grabbed a pair of scissors. However when I tried to climb out of the ship’s interior I found myself being stopped by Nilcoar’s forehoof.

”There’s too many ponies out here, just wait inside for a bit and then we’ll have dinner,” He explained.

”Owww… okay,” I pouted before turning back and sitting next to Pot again.

The stallion had remained mostly quiet throughout the trip, idly clutching at his stump-leg every once in a while. That was definitely out of the ordinary for him.

”What’s got you so worried?” I asked, offering him a friendly smile.

”I’m just… I’m thinking of where to go next,” The stallion admitted.

”What do you mean? Didn't you say that the ponies on the other side of the bay were nice?” I replied.

Pot let out a deep sigh before speaking again.

”I did say that, didn’t I?”

”Yeah, and also that I could find help for my stable there…” I reminded the earth pony. I didn’t like where this conversation was headed.

”In my defense, I’ve never actually been to the other side of the bay. I’ve heard that there’s good ponies there who are willing to help others out,” He said.

Okay, that’s not as bad as I expected.

”Did you hear that from a trustworthy source?” I asked, giving him an optimistic smile.

”About as trustworthy as a bandit can be…” Pot said.

My brow furrowed immediately.

”N- no it’s like…” The stallion stuttered. “I heard it from a bandit,”

”Why were you dealing with bandits?” I asked, my voice sharp. “And how do you know they were trustworthy?”

A fire of indignation lit in my chest.

”I can’t believe you staked my mission on information from a bandit!” I said, my tone growing louder. “What if we just sail into a damned bandit pit? Who would help my stable then, huh?”

The earth pony remained quiet, but his eyes were wide with fear. His gaze kept switching from my horn to my gun and then back to my eyes.

”Y- you don’t get it…” He mumbled, “The b- bandit was talking about… uh… being ran away from the other side! Yeah!” He finished.

My expression softened. I let out a loud chuckle. Of course! That made much more sense! What would the alternative even be? That Pot of all ponies was some kind of outlaw bandit raider-type? Fat chance! The sheer ridiculousness of the concept made me bend over in laughter, tears streaming from my eyes.

”I’m- pfft! Sorry Pot, I should’ve let you finished…” I managed to choke out before another laughing fit took over.

”Hey!” Somepony shouted at me from the door to the cabin.

I turned around, still chuckling, to meet the pale face of Nilcoar.

”Cut that out before we get heard!” The captain said, his voice dead serious.

My laughter died on my lips at the stallion’s tone. I opened my mouth to apologize, but the stallion lifted a hoof to their mouth, shushing me. His ears swiveled from side to side, twitching slightly.

“I think we’re safe…” Nilcoar said, glaring daggers at me. “Were you told anything about sailing safety?”

”No…?” I mumbled, my ears drooping at the thought of making an adult angry.

Nilcoar blew air out of his nose.

”I guess I can’t blame you for that…” He said, climbing into the cabin. “I really need to make a Baltimare Bay survival guide…”

The stallion mumbled under his breath for a moment before speaking up again.

“Just try not to laugh too hard or for too long, it attracts…” The stallion said, bringing his face closer to mine. “Lungfish…” He finished in a hushed whisper.

”Wh- what’s a lungfish?” I asked, a strange feeling of dread washing over me, “Is it like… a fish that can breathe?”

“Were it so simple…” The hatted stallion said, shaking his head. “Lungfish are vicious creatures, about the size of a pony. They can’t breathe outside the water, but they can jump out for minutes at a time. They are called lungfish because they exclusively eat lungs,” He explained.

I shuddered at the thought.

“…How?” Pot asked, a horrified expression warping his features.

The captain whipped his head around to stare at the earth pony.

“First they jump out of the water and push you overboard. Then they swim up close and give you a big smooch with their disgusting fish lips,” Nilcoar explained, gesturing with his forehooves as he did. “And then they start to suck… until your lungs get forced out your mouth!”

Pot’s horrified expression was only matched by my own as Nilcoar nodded sagely.

“But no worries, they haven’t heard us. So I guess the next order of business is…” He trailed off, leaning backwards to poke his head through the door. “Dinner!”

In a heartbeat, the twins and the young colt all but materialized inside the cabin. Nilcoar raised an eyebrow at the door, as if he were expecting Vissnir to follow the rest of his crew. He climbed out of the ship, closing the door behind him as he did.

“What’s up with Vissnir?” I asked the twins.

”He’s not fond of unicorns, miss…” The young colt said. “That’s why he asked for the back cover to get set up,” He added.

”Not fond of unicorns? Why?” I asked, confused.

If anything, I would’ve imagined that unicorns were valuable assets out at sea! Let alone one as great and powerful as I was.

Them again… he doesn’t know exactly how strong I am…

Nilcoar joined us once again, an uneasy smile on his face.

”Vissnir won’t be eating with us,” He explained before turning to stare directly at Pot. “Which means that the cooking contest will have to be altered slightly. You will cook for us, and I will compare it with my vast memory of all of Vissnir’s splendid recipes,”

“I… what?” Pot stuttered.

The smile that split my face was so wide that I was sure the edges of my mouth were touching my ears.

“You gotta!” I told the stallion.

”I…” Pot started, his eyes passing over me and all the others before he shook his head. “Whatever, I’ll do it, where’s your kitchen,” He added, staring at Nilcoar resolutely.

Sleeping on a boat was definitely the weirdest experience I had had in my life. The gentle rocking of the ship and the blanket I had been given to wrap myself in tugged at my memory weirdly, but I couldn’t quite remember it clearly. Could it be a memory from before I had my signature excellent memory? Or had my brain just made it up? Whatever the case may be, despite the cramped confines of the ship, I slept very well.

Vissnir had refused to come inside to sleep, and Grif had decided to sleep on the outside seats as well, leaving two of the boat’s beds free for me and Pot. The twins took the frontmost bed, which was a large triangular piece that took up a third of the boat. Pot and I slept on either side of the table where we had had dinner. And Nilcoar slept in his little captain’s nook, at the back of the ship.

I woke up to the sounds of hooves on the roof of the ship. Panic flared up in my chest for a moment before I glanced around me and saw that only Pot and I remained inside. The others were probably out and about already.

“Wakey wakey,” Nilcoar said when I climbed out of the boat.

The sky around us had just barely began brightening, meaning that it was about as close to pitch black as possible. There was only the faintest shift from black to gray to mark where the horizon stood.

I watched from the opening of the cabin as the seaponies worked the sails. The large triangular one was opened, but not fully. The tent that had been erected on the back of the ship was stored back in its bag, which was then carefully stashed inside the ship’s seats.

“Wind’s a little odd today, but we should get to the other side in a couple hours,” Nilcoar explained, glancing out at the horizon. “We just… need to…” He trailed off, looking at the sea behind us.

I followed his gaze, but couldn’t make out exactly what the captain was looking at.

“Grif, what is that?” Nilcoar asked.

The young colt squinted at the horizon, but pulled his head back and shook it after a few seconds.

“Excuse me miss, could you give me my spyglass? It should be next to the sink,” Grif said to me.

“Sure!” I chirped back, climbing into the cabin again.

I found the small brass tube hanging from a sling right off to the side of the sink-stairs. My horn fired up and scooped the tool up, levitating it out the cabin door and directly into Grif’s awaiting hooves.

“Can’t really make it out…” He said after pressing the spyglass up to his face. “Maybe it’s a wreck?”

“There shouldn’t be any wrecks out here, look for a flag,” Nilcoar replied.

Grif adjusted the spyglass somewhat and focused harder on the horizon. The sun had started to rise more steadily by now, painting the sky in a soft orange tint.

“Blue flag,” Grif announced.

“Drat!” Nilcoar exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked the captain.

Nilcoar reached under his hat and pulled out a banana which he immediately began peeling. His movements were practiced and robotic, almost as if he were doing it out of habit rather than actual hunger. Possibly some attempt to calm himself down.

“That’s one of Bluebeard’s ships,” The stallion said gravely.

”Oh fuck…” Pot said from behind me.

I turned around to look at the earth pony, whose expression had become one of horror. He and Bluebeard had crossed paths before, and I remembered Muddler talking about him being willing to pay good money for Pot’s head.

”I am so bloody dead,” The stallion said, hyperventilating.

”Hey, hey, don’t lose your head just yet…” Nilcoar said, but his tone made it clear that he wasn’t buying his own words. “Simi, get the radio working,” He ordered.

One of the twins climbed down into the cabin and began digging through one of the storage compartments. I climbed out to give him more space, where I saw Hiri busy at work managing multiple lines of rope.

Nilcoar was crouched over the small screen where I had read the depth the day before, and he did not look happy.

”Wind’s blowing straight at them,” He said, glancing over his shoulder at the approaching boat. “And theirs isn’t a sailboat….” He trailed off, turning to glare at Pot.

“Muddler you motherfucker…” Pot mumbled, staring incredulously at the boat.

Vissnir blew air out his nostrils and glared daggers at Pot as well.

”And just why the fuck is Bluebeard of all ponies after you?” The cook asked.

I dropped into the cabin of the boat and placed myself between Pot and the others, opening my holster as I did. Pot hadn’t asked to get mixed up with the pirate pony. And while I had grown to like these ponies, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop them if the need arose.

“I don’t know what this Bluebeard pony’s problem is, but Pot had nothing to do with it!” I exclaimed.

”Well he clearly did something,” Vissnir barked. “And I’m guessing we’re all going to be sleeping with the fishes soon,”

A long silence befell the vessel. Broken only by Simi’s tinkering with the radio panel.

“It’s working, captain,” The stallion said.

Nilcoar looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

”I’m going to talk to them… we’re no friends of Bluebeard so keep your gun down,” He said, holding a forehoof out as if trying to pacify me.

I wanted to trust him, he hadn’t given me any reason not to trust him so far. And from what I had understood about the trade with Muddler, we had chosen this boat specifically because they weren’t affiliated with Bluebeard.

“Okay…” I agreed, taking a step back while keeping myself between them and Pot.

Nilcoar pressed a large button on the radio control panel which immediately flooded the inside of the boat with static.

“This is the Dragonfly speaking, who else is out there?” Nilcoar asked into the microphone.

A couple moments of silence filled the ship before the speakers buzzed to life with a gruff voice.

”Loud and clear, Dragonfly,” The pony said, a stallion, judging by the deep tone, “This is the Nevermore speaking,”

Nilcoar winced slightly at the stallion’s words, but his expression shifted to a mischievous smile.

”Captain Iron Sides, it’s been a while!” The stallion said happily. “Lovely day for sailing, isn’t it?”

”I’m here on serious business, Scaggs,” The stallion, Iron, replied. “Captain Bluebeard found out that you have a certain passenger on your ship that he would very much like to meet,”

Nilcoar pulled back slightly and cleared his throat. I stared at Pot, who looked as if he were trying to swallow a large stone. What did he mean by meet though? Hadn’t Pot and Bluebeard already met?

”And who might this pony be?” Nilcoar asked, turning to raise an eyebrow at Pot.

“Not a pony, she’s a zebra,” Iron replied. “Blue cloak and a strange bracelet, blood red eyes too,”

I think they got the wrong ship.

Nilcoar gave me a strange look, eyeing my jumpsuit and PipBuck curiously before finally focusing on my horn.

”I’m afraid you have the wrong ship, there are no zebras here,” The hatted captain responded.

”Don’t you dare lie to me, Scaggs, she was spotted boarding your ship at Marepoint Fort,” Iron barked over the radio. “We’re going to board you, and I swear that if we find that zebra-”

”You won’t find any zebras here,” Nilcoar interrupted. “The only passenger I have that even remotely fits your description is a unicorn,” He added.

The captain took his hoof off the radio for a split second, turning to look at Simi through the open cabin door.

”Check the fuel,” He ordered before swiftly pressing the button again and continuing to speak. “And in any case, nopony is setting a hoof on my ship without my permission,”

”Your permission?” The stallion on the radio asked, almost mockingly. “I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want, and right now I want to blast your stupid yellow canoe out of my sea,”

Nilcoar chuckled at the threat.

”Your sea, is it? This is Neptune’s sea, and we are all but trespassers in it. You should keep that in mind,” He said, completely serious.

”Oh that does it!” Iron roared. “I’m going to drag you out of that shitstain you call a boat, and then I’m going to shove every last one of your fucking bananas up your-“

”And that’s enough of him,” Nilcoar interrupted, shutting off the radio. “How’s the gas?” He added, turning towards Simi.

The stallion was leaning over the seats on the left side of the ship, holding up a lid and staring down into the bowels of the ship. He lifted his gaze and shook his head.

“We won’t make it to shore,” He said.

“Well that’s just perfect,” Vissnir muttered. “Grif, get my gun,”

The youngest stallion started to dig through one of the storage compartments next to us. My attention was torn away from him when Nilcoar brought a forehoof up to hold his face and grumbled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“We don’t have enough fuel to make it to shore against the wind. Said wind is also blowing directly at them, so we can’t exactly sail our way out of this mess…” Nilcoar explained.

I sat on my haunches, which was actually not an easy feat considering the swaying motion of the boat.

Come on, think! There has to be a solution…

“Wait… what if the wind were blowing the other way?” I asked, grinning at the captain.

Nilcoar looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“What kind of question is that? If it were blowing the other way then we could use it to get to shore. We’d have a much easier time mounting a defense there… if they even bother following us,” Nilcoar said.

My grin widened.

“I have an idea, trust me!” I chirped before leaping out the door.

I came to immediately regret my decision when I almost slid directly out of the boat and into the water. Were it not for Narrative being quite literally lodged in the way.

“Anger. What gives? You’ve all been scheming down there for ages,” The robot droned.

“Don’t worry about it!” I reassured him. “I just need to concentrate for a bit, can you be quiet?”

“Sadness. All I seem to do is suffer in silence,” Narrative replied.

“Yeah, exactly, keep… doing that,” I absentmindedly said as I screwed my eyes shut and focused.

Okay Black Light, here you go. Wind… what is wind…

Wind was what happened when air moved around, that was easy enough. But then that left me with another question:

What is air?

I racked my mind for memories of science class. Surely a pony as smart as me would have no issue recalling something as simple as what air is.

“Ah! I know!” I exclaimed out loud when the memory dawned on me.

Air was that blue arrow that plants shot out when the sun hit them. And those same arrows would then go in and out of ponies!

I could feel it right now, floating around inside my lungs. Air was an actual thing that could be grabbed, how else could I hold it inside of me?

Which means…

My horn started to power up as I focused on the air around me. If my chest could hold air, then why wouldn’t my magic be able to?

A thin telekinetic field appeared in front of the mast, where the wind was hitting us directly. I squeezed down on it, feeling it leave my magic’s grasp as I applied more pressure.

Maybe if I just… push?

To my amazement, it seemed to work. The wind started to spin inside my magic like water, spiraling out from in front of the mask and rounding back to the back of it. I grit my teeth while focusing on maintaining the spell before turning to look at Nilcoar and speaking.

“I have it… open the sail…” I grunted out.

The stallion raised an eyebrow at me, but he nodded regardless and gestured for the twins to climb out of the cabin.

Before long, the main sail was carefully opened, where it found my artificial wind filling it and pushing us forward.

“You are amazing!” Nilcoar exclaimed when he saw the sail billow against the wind. “Would you like to be part of my crew? When we make it out of this mess, I mean,”

“Talk… later…” I managed, feeling the sweat pour down my brow.

The captain slammed his mouth shut, clearly understanding. He turned around to face the approaching boat for a moment before smiling.

“I think we can outrun them,” Nilcoar stated. “Their boat is actually slower than this one, especially with you pushing it,”

The compliment reinvigorated me to push harder, spinning more wind into the sail. My horn started to ache slightly, but I pushed through, keeping the magic flow constant.

I liked this, just me and my magic, being strong and helping ponies. My heart raced happily as I gave it my all, remembering my training in the stable.

Come on, Black Light!

I couldn’t really tell how much time passed, but eventually Nilcoar and the others started to cheer around me. Given my complete focus, I couldn’t really pay them any mind.

My head hurt, but it was a dull pain. The type that made it abundantly clear that it was going to get way worse once I stopped.

“You can ease off on the wind, they turned back,” Nilcoar said, holding my shoulder.

The sudden contact almost made me lose my focus, but I held on. My eyes slowly opened, where I noticed that the sail had been pulled halfway down into the bag.

Keeping it as constant as I could, I carefully wound the magic down. Nodding when Simi and Hiri looked at me while holding the sail ropes. As the magic faded, the sail was stashed inside the bag that hung off the mast.

My horn started to ache almost immediately when the spell stopped, making me collapse onto Narrative’s back.

“Are you okay?” Grif asked, poking his head out of the cabin.

“Yup, just being a hero…” I managed to mumble out.

The boat started to vibrate underneath me as the motor roared to life. I looked back woozily and saw Nilcoar holding the rudder steady. I smiled softly as I slowly faded into a soft sleep.

It wasn’t actual sleep, of course, as my head was throbbing too hard for that. I just rested as well as I could, keeping my burning forehead pressed against Narrative’s cold back.

The cold metal pulled some of the pain out of my skull, almost as if it were melting and leaking out of my eye socket. But any time I as much as tensed my neck, the pain would return in full.

I gotta get some Bounceback…

Moving as slowly as I dared to, I crawled off Narrative’s back and towards the cabin. Somepony said something to me, but I mumbled that I was fine and they let me keep moving.

I opened my saddlebags which had been thrown onto one of the seats and fumbled around inside of it until I found the jar and popped one of the pills into my mouth.

“Are you okay?” Pot asked me, but I didn’t get the chance to reply, as the pill had finally dulled the pain enough for me to finish passing out.

STABLE-TEC UNIFIED OPERATING SYSTEM

COPYRIGHT 1624 - 1626 STABLE-TEC

Biographical Registry System v.147

Full name: Butterfly Loop

Classification: Earth Pony Mare – 23 years of age – C- 7851F3 M-9A3260 E- 089EF8

Cutie mark: a butterfly loop knot

Butterfly Loop was one of Captain Iron Side’s most trusted sailors. She was brought to The Rig as a filly where she eventually got her cutie mark while learning about knots.

She was a bright and spry mare, who loved sailing more than anything, possibly due to it being the only thing she really knew. Her joyful demeanor and great attitude quickly got her name into the bag from which the best of Bluebeard’s captains drew their new crewmembers.

She was picked to join Captain Iron Sides and served him dutifully for years up until the battle of the college, where she took a bullet to the chest that eventually killed her from an infection.

Author's Note

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