Pillow Thoughts II

Pillow Thoughts II

Chapter 7
NOW you wanna talk?!

Muffled voices were running around Rainbow’s mind. She rubbed her forehead trying to make sense of it all.

“Pinkie! What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Rainbow!” replied the pink pony frowning. “I understand when you girls hide stuff related to my super secret awesome birthday party, but my birthday is a few months away! So what gives?”

The voices kept growing louder and louder. She was starting to lose her patience.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Well I think you do! And you’re not the only one who does… I think you and Applejack--”

The door suddenly swung open and the aforementioned earth pony walked in. Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat. Applejack stopped, confused, seeing the other two in the room. She quickly glanced at the door’s number.

“Am Ah in the wrong room?”

“Oh, hi Applejack!” said Pinkie, cheerfully, as if she forgot the discussion she was having. “Rainbow and I were just talking about you!”

“Ah see…” the earth pony replied. “Anything Ah should know about?”

“Yes!” said Pinkie and, before anypony could react, a brick came crashing down through the window. Rainbow jumped and dashed towards the other two.

“THAT’S what I think of your ‘quality services’, innkeeper!” shouted a colt, his voice echoing in the night. But it wasn’t only his voice that the ponies heard.

It took only a fraction of a second for Dash to realize that the voices she kept hearing were actually coming from outside. Carefully, she approached the broken glass to look at the crowd of ponies who gathered in front of the inn. The innkeeper seemed to have started a brawl with some of them, which attracted even more unwanted participants who kept screaming and shouting insults.

Twilight bursted into the room. “Is everypony okay? I heard a crash!” Her eyes fell upon the brick and the broken window. “…what are you… doing?”

“Nothing. We’re fine, but it looks like everypony’s gone crazy outside!” replied Rainbow. “Where are Rarity and Fluttershy?”

“Fluttershy’s in her room, under the covers probably. I’ll go get her. I don’t know where Rarity is,” said the unicorn as she ran towards the pegasus’ room.

“Rarity told me something about ‘going shopping’, but Ah can’t imagine where she’d go do that in this small town!”

“She can’t be far, I’ll go look for her.” replied Dash. She bucked the window open, shattering the remaining glass, and took off. Usually she loved flying at night, but looking for somepony was another matter. She could barely see anything on the ground without flying slowly, more like gliding, and when she did that she felt like she was wasting time.

She could hear ponies shouting from various places in the town. The pegasus could barely make out officers trying to break up fights between multiple parties. Things only looked worse and worse with each minute that passed. Her ears suddenly picked up a familiar voice coming from one of the buildings.

“Take it back!! Take it back right NOW!!” Rarity shouted at the shop vendor. The mare behind the counter didn’t back away either.

“I will NOT tolerate stupid customers screaming in my shop!”

Rainbow entered the building to discover Rarity looking as if she just hit a brick wall full on. “S-stupid?!” she muttered as she dropped the ribbons she was holding up with her magic. The pegasus rarely saw her friend truly upset, but she was pretty sure she never saw her jump over a counter with such an ease. The next thing she knew, she was trying to pry Rarity’s hooves from the uninspired-mare’s mane.

“Rarity!! Let her go!! She’s been hit with the truth-magic!!”

“That only makes it WORSE!” the unicorn replied, then turned towards the terrified mare. “How DARE you say I have no sense for fashion!! Take it back, NOW!”

With a final grunt, Rainbow managed to release the mare from Rarity’s clutches. Without waiting for her permission, she grabbed the unicorn and dashed off. “My ribbons!” she cried as she did her best to make them follow her by using magic. Engulfed in a blue aura, it was rather surprising how the few remaining materials managed to follow the two ponies as Rainbow rushed to get back to the inn as soon as possible.

Suddenly, their attention was drawn to an orange glow in the distance.

“No… no no no!!” shouted the pegasus as her eyes gazed upon the flames surrounding the inn. She landed at a safe distance. Rarity didn’t even protest being almost thrown to the ground as she was in shock as well. The least thing that Rainbow was expecting was to be covered in the ribbons of which the unicorn lost control over for a brief moment.

Ribbons… fire…

Snapped back to reality, she shook them off and looked towards Applejack’s window. She couldn’t see much, due to the smoke, and yelling after her friends would’ve proven futile since the angry crowd that was now surrounding the building was loud enough to cover any sound.

“What’s happening?!” asked Rarity, scared. “Are the girls alright??”

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” replied the pegasus. She flapped her wings a few times and took off, rushing towards the open window. The heat was rising and, by the look of things, the ground floor was already engulfed in flames. It felt like the heat was emanating from the floor itself.

“AJ ?! Twilight?! Pinkie!! Fluttershy!!” she called her friends, but nopony answered. She opened the door and took a step back seeing the hallway invaded by smoke and floating ash. She took a deep breath and ran across, quickly bucking the door towards Twilight’s room only to discover it to be empty. Same with Fluttershy’s room. Her friends were nowhere to be found. She suddenly heard her name being called.

Making her way back towards the first room, she was surprised to find Twilight in the middle of it. “Rainbow! We’re fine, I teleported everypony out! Come on!” Suddenly, the pegasus found herself blinded by a white light and in the blink of an eye she was outside with the rest of them.

“The exits were blocked by the crowd of ponies, I had to teleport us outside. As soon as we met up with Rarity, she told us you went back for us!” said Twilight, panting slightly. She was scared, they all were.

“You okay?” came the unexpected question. Rainbow turned to see Applejack with a worried expression on her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine… you?” she replied.

“Yeah.”

“Everypony is okay, Rainbow,” continued Twilight. “But it’s not over. The entire town has gone mad!”

“Miss Twilight!!” shouted Aalden galloping towards them. Just as he was a couple of hooves away from them, another pony charged towards him from the side. Before anypony could react, the colt hit Aalden and sent him tumbling on the ground. “That’s for what you and that idiotic mayor did to our town! You’re all worthless!!”

The colt picked himself up from the ground and, without a single word, he leaned on his front legs and bucked his assailant right in the face, knocking him out.

“Oh my…” said Rarity, involuntarily. Panting, he picked up his hat, readjusted his saddlebags and approached the mane six. “I’m sorry you had to see that, but he looked like he could use some time out. Things have gone crazy, the mayor’s office is being assaulted. The poor colt is too old for crap like this.”

“What the hay happened?!” asked Applejack.

“The innkeeper said some things that shouldn’t be said to the wrong ponies. There’s one thing being drunk and saying stuff… and another being perfectly sober and saying stuff. Ever since you six told me about this whole truth-magic-thing, I was worried something like this might happen. This is a small town, word travels faster than you could imagine.”

“Can we help in any way?” asked Twilight, looking towards the inn that was completely engulfed in fire. There were many officers trying to break up the crowd. There were ponies lying on the ground and the unicorn could only hope that they were only unconscious.

“The only solution would be to keep them all separated and you can’t help us with that. I need to run back to the mayor. Here’s the map I promised you. I suggest you go, now. The only way you can help us is by putting a stop to this madness.” The colt shook his head and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Miss Applejack. I wish we could’ve met under different circumstances. Thank you… for everything!” With that, he started galloping back the way he came.

Applejack lowered her head, saddened by the sudden departure. Rainbow looked at her and she didn’t really know if she felt sorry for her or if she felt glad that this ‘intruder’ finally left her marefriend alone. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by Twilight. “I told Tons and Gus to wait for us near the town’s northern exit. Our carriage and our personal items are safe thanks to them.”

“We should tell the Princess to give these guys a raise!” replied Pinkie, trying lighten up the mood. Twilight nodded as they all started walking, leaving the inn and the dissipating crowd behind. The mere thought of what could happen if the alicorn would hit a big city with thousands of ponies made Twilight wish she could teleport herself and her friends to their destination so they could put an end to this before it was too late. But she couldn’t… nopony could… so they had to stay focused on their objective.

…she also tried ignoring the fact that none of them knew how to sail a boat.

***

Leaving the small town of Hoofville and its less than original name behind, the carriage was slowly approaching Flint Harbor Town. Rainbow was sitting in her usual place near the window, picking pieces of ash from one of her extended wings. She thought about the many things that happened in less than two days and genuinely wondered how long would it be until Pinkie bursted with questions and accusations. The pegasus hoped that, at least, she’d do it in a private place… not that it mattered anymore.

Applejack shifted her eyes towards the cyan pony. She saw her carefully tending to her wing and she instinctively touched her ponytail to check for bits and pieces of debris left behind by the fire. When she had no partner, her physical appearance was not all that important to her. Once she discovered her feelings towards the pegasus she also discovered new needs, such as the need to impress, to look good, to keep her marefriend’s interest spiked. The earth pony realized that it was might have been pointless in doing so at that moment, therefore she resumed looking out the window. The lack of sleep was taking a toll on her… on all of them. She looked across from her at Fluttershy who was napping, her head resting gently on Rarity’s shoulder.

The earth pony glanced outside again and saw, for the first time in her life, the dark blue ocean stretching into the horizon. The moon’s light rays caressed the topaz waves as they carried black vessels towards happier places. It was beautiful for her and she wished now, more than ever, to be on one of those vessels, to go explore and leave all her worries behind. Not for long… just long enough so she can return to a fresher life, a better set of choices.

Soon the ocean view was replaced by passing houses and other buildings. It was late so most ponies were probably asleep. Following orders, the royal guards stopped the carriage near the entry to the docks. Rarity gently woke up her friend as they all started climbing out of the vehicle. Twilight approached Tons and Gus who were taking down the mane six’s luggage.

“Well, I suppose this is it… thank you very much for helping us,” she said.

“It was our pleasure, Miss Twilight. That was quite a bumpy ride, but we all made it out alright, right?” replied Tons, nodding.

“Yes, we did. Here,” she continued, grabbing a small pouch from her saddlebag. “This should cover up expenses for three days and the night you’ll spend here.”

“That is very kind of you, Miss Twilight, but the Princess took care of everything. We have been assigned a place to sleep and eat until all of you return. Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere,” said Gus, smiling.

Twilight felt comforted by this. It was like she was being assured that they would return from this journey soon enough. Nodding, she took her farewell and returned to her friends. The colts started pulling the empty carriage and headed towards a good night’s sleep.

“I’m feeling sleepy… veeeery very sleepy,” mumbled Pinkie, trying to keep her eyes open.

“I know… here’s what I propose,” replied Twilight. She took a deep breath and started explaining her idea, knowing that it might not sound like the best one she ever had. “We talk to somepony who has a boat big enough to carry all of us. We pay him to take us to the island—“

“Do we even know the island’s name? Or what are we actually looking for?” asked Rainbow, followed by nods from everypony.

“No… the Princess told us everything she knew. Ophil Gryasa is kind of like a hermit as far as I understood… she might not even be on that island anymore. The last time Celestia spoke with her was over 5 years ago,” replied the unicorn. She sighed and moved aside a strand of hair that was bothering her. “It’s a long shot… a really really long shot… but it’s the only chance we’ve got.”

“Can’t this wait until morning?” asked Rarity, pointing at the yellow pegasus. “Poor Fluttershy is exhausted, and I myself am not feeling too, how to put it… energetic right now.”

“The ideal situation would be to find a boat, pay the sailor to do his job and get some sleep. There aren’t any maps that show the exact distance towards other lands but, according to my calculations, the nearest island is just a day away. Maybe even less, should we have favorable wind,” said Twilight, trying to convince herself that it was a good idea.

“Favorable wind?” asked a passing pony sailor. “Why are six mares talking about wind at this hour, on the docks might I add?” His breath smelled of alcohol but Twilight deemed him as harmless.

“Hello! Do you happen to know anypony who might want to set sail tonight? We have to reach a certain island… far from here,” she said. The sailor looked at her and started snickering.

“Are you serious?” he asked, when he noticed that nopony else was laughing. Twilight nodded. “Well, if that’s the case,” he continued, “I’d say go ask ol’ Timber over there. He’s always sailin’ during nighttime. If you ask me, he’s a little bit short of a few sails, if you get what I mean.”

The mares looked in the direction the sailor pointed. It wasn’t difficult to spot the colt since he was the only one fiddling around with ropes on the docks. The purple unicorn mutter a “Thanks” and the group started walking towards the biggest boat that was anchored there.

The colt was just untying the last rope. He seemed old enough to be their grandfather. He wore a black jacket that complimented his long, white, ruffled hair. His light-blue coat gave him a strange allure of a ghost and one of his eyes shined in an eerie way whenever he turned his head towards the ocean. It took a few minutes for Twilight to realize that it was actually made out of glass and tried, politely, to not look directly at it.

“Good evening,” she said.

“Hopefully, it will be! Got bait, all I need is them fish to bite!” he replied, looking at each of them as if he wasn’t really convinced they were actually there. “Can I help you?”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends… and we all need somepony to help us get to an island that should be about a day away from here.”

The colt seemed like he didn’t hear her. He hopped on the boat and started moving a bunch of fishing poles around. The girls exchanged looks. “Uh, are you Mr. Timber?” the unicorn asked, trying to obtain a response from the colt. He stretched his back and let out a sigh as the boated creaked under his weight. Being satisfied with the way he arranged everything, he looked in the distance and started mumbling something. “That oughta be ‘Adia Island’, right?” the colt responded, turning towards them.

“We don’t really know its name,” said Twilight.

“Of course you don’t… nopony does. I just like calling it like that,” he told her, hopping back onto the dock. “Now I don’t wanna… disappoint young mares, but taking one of you on board might be considered bad luck amongst us superstitious types… not to mention six,” the colt bluntly said, scratching his short, light-gray beard.

“Well, Mr. Timber,” started Rarity all of a sudden, “maybe we can cast away all that bad luck with a few good placed bits. We also have food which we’ll gladly share with you, if you would be so kind to help a few poor, helpless mares across this big, vast ocean.” She concluded her proposition with bating eyelashes, like she was communicating through Morse-code with the sailor’s morals system.

Twilight felt the need to shove a hoof up Rarity’s mouth, had it not been for the Timbers’ unexpected response. “Hahaha… Who would’ve known that such a lovely mare knows sailor-talk!” He hopped back on his boat that was big enough to carry twenty ponies. “Bits AND free food? You should’ve said that to poor ol’ Captain Timber… this old colt’s hunches may be rusty, but his hospitality is nothing short of heartwarming!”

Twilight blinked once, not sure of what to believe. The mares looked at each other and the sailor caught on to their uncertainty. “Few strangers are willing to pay us sailors and I’m just a simple colt trying to survive with what he catches. If you need to go to that island, then I’ll be damned if I let a little bit of bad luck change my fate tonight! Welcome aboard!”

Applejack approached Twilight and whispered in her ear. “Ah feel he’s honest. As long as we keep our end of the bargain, he’ll do his best to help us,” she said, assuring her friend that everything was fine. After what they’ve been through, it was only natural for the mares to become a little bit cautious when it came to new ponies.

“Well, we ain’t got all night. Are we going or not?” the colt asked, throwing one last look over his equipment.

“Yes,” Twilight responded. “Yes we are.”

***

The boat had one big sail attached to its mast and a little door that seemed to lead towards a tiny storage room. Mr. Timber was firmly grasping the shipwheel, gently steering his vessel in the middle of the ocean, the so-called Golden Sea. Nopony really remembered why it was called like that. Some said that it was due to the way the sunrays fell upon its shores every morning, making the sand look like it’s made of gold. Others said that it was the place of birth of Celestia herself and that here is where her parents bathed her for the first time.

Mr. Timber didn’t really care for all that fancy talk. To him, the sea was just the sea. The important thing was with whom he spent time there, exploring it, watching together endless sunsets and sunrises. He missed her… a lot. When it was her time to go, she left behind many memories for him to cherish. She asked only one thing in return, to never be forgotten. Who knows what fate would guide his ship towards that island, the island he never set hoof upon? All he knows is that, fancy-talk aside, it must be some kind of sign from her. A tiny sign… another secret they will share for eternity.

Rainbow felt strangely comforted by the rocking of the boat. It felt like she was on one of her favorite clouds, except the fact that the ground was a lot harder than usual. She looked around and saw that everypony was sleeping. She looked at Applejack, wanting so much to be near her, to hug her and tell her that she is sorry.

…her fluffy orange cloud…

Tomorrow… no matter what happens… no matter who hears it… no matter what… tomorrow I’ll tell her.

She soon drifted into a dreamless state.

***

One can be woken through a series of pleasurable gestures. A kiss… nuzzling… the smell of bacon and eggs in the morning…

Rainbow didn’t wake up to any of that. Instead, she took quite a mouthful of sea water. SPLASH!

“Hey!! *cough* *cough* What-*pffft* what gives?!?” she shouted. It took her a few moments to realize that the boat was rocking heavily, being almost tossed around by the tall waves. She got up and tried keeping her balance as the roaring thunders above her made their presence known. The sky was still darkened, the stars being hidden by thick clouds that hung upon them like gray blankets of led.

“What’s the matter, missy? Got a little wet? Hehehe!” said Timber from behind the shipwheel. “For somepony who flies, you sure can’t keep your hooves together on water!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Mr. Timber took his eyes off the horizon and stared at the cyan pegasus. “To be honest, I haven’t the slightest idea! …but I’ll tell you this: pray to Celestia that it doesn’t start raining, or we’ll really be in trouble.”

“What, you mean you’ve never sailed through storms before?”

“Oh, I did, Miss… I truly witnessed the fury of this world. I left my mark upon her… and it was only natural that she left her mark upon me,” he said as his glass eye reflected one of the distant lightning bolts. “But I never had the opportunity of doing that with six ponies on board along with their bags filled with Celestia-knows-what!” Seeing the confused expression on Rainbow’s face, he pointed a hoof downwards. “The added weight makes my boat kinda unpredictable, even for me.”

The wind was getting more and more powerful, ruffling her mane, and Rainbow could’ve sworn she started feeling raindrops on her nose. She looked towards her friends who were still sleeping. She flinched as a raindrop hit her muzzle.

“You’re feelin’ it too, aren’t you? It’s not just me, right?” asked the sailor, raising his voice to be able to cover the wind’s howling. “Well, it probably won’t get any worse than thi—“ RRRUMBLE the thunder sound covered his voice.

“Wh---what’s going on?” a tiny voice spoke close to Dash, who didn’t even notice that Fluttershy was awake.

“It’s nothing, go back to sleep Fluttershy,” she replied, trying to appease the scared pony.

The boat was rocking even more, making it difficult for the pegasus to keep her balance. A thunderclap that was a bit too close than expected made her lose it and she soon found herself rolling on the boat’s floor. The noise and agitation started waking up the mares.

Twilight looked around in confusion, trying to remind herself where were they and why. She felt the rain becoming denser as the horizon danced in front of her eyes. “Why are we shaking that much? Are we—“ CRACK! a lightning bolt spreaded its branches over them as Mr. Timber pulled heavily on the rudder. “Easy there, girl!!” he shouted to his boat.

Pinkie shook her wet mane, splashing everypony around her. “Hey, watch it!” said Rarity who did not appreciate this new way of being woken up.

Twilight turned to the old colt. “Should we be worried?”

“Miss Twilight,” he started, keeping that rudder firmly in his hooves, “I’d say we don’t have time to worry right now.” Another thunderclap stroke, as if to confirm his words, and the rain intensified. “Okay, everypony listen up!” he shouted, trying to cover the sound of waves breaking upon his vessel. “If you don’t wanna see this boat sink, two of you go right at the front! Two of you stay in the back! And two of you will have to work on the sail!”

“Which one am I?? Which one am I??” screamed Pinkie, not knowing what to do.

“Rarity, Fluttershy, stay in the back! Hang on to anything you can! Pinkie, you and me, in the front, now! We must balance the boat!” shouted Twilight as they all tried to keep it together. “Rainbow, Applejack, sail, now!!” Rainbow kept trying to pick herself up from the floor, only to fall in the other direction. Applejack was in no better position either. She grabbed a rope but ultimately managed to get her hooves tangled in it. Pinkie and Twilight barely managed to make it to the front by holding onto each other and almost toppled over the side as the boat hit another wave.

“No hurry here, if you were wonderin’!!” shouted Timber, running a hoof through his wet mane to clear his sight. “Sail ponies! Hoist the sail a little more! Don’t let her drop unless you have to! Don’t put too much pressure on it and keep your eyes on the wind changes!”

“WHAT?!” shouted Rainbow, looking completely confused.

“Sweet Celestia, pull the ROPE on the RIGHT a little! If it feels like ripping apart, pull the OTHER rope! Keep it balanced, don’t let it get out of control!”

Rainbow quickly spotted the rope and grabbed it with her hooves. Applejack was already holding the other rope and, after she managed to untangle it, started counter weighting Rainbow’s movements.

Wave after wave, they started getting the hang of it. They were all soaking wet as the seemingly calm sleep-cruise turned into a full blown nightmare. Suddenly, a big wave hit them fully. For a brief second, Rainbow couldn’t hear or see anything as the icy cold water covered her from head to hoof. She coughed, shaking her head to move the hair from her eyes. She looked at Applejack who was in the same situation as her. She lost her hat a while ago, but didn’t even bother with it as she was doing her best to stand up straight and hold her ground.

Rarity was holding Fluttershy who was, strangely, focusing on a distant point, as if she wasn’t even paying attention to the entire situation. Pinkie and Twilight were holding on to the boat as best as they could.

“Mr. Timber!!” shouted the unicorn. “Can’t we do anything to protect the boat?? We can use magic, but you have to tell us what you need!!”

No reply.

“Mr. Timber!!!” she shouted, trying to get the colt’s attention. Again, nopony answered. The rain was so dense, it was difficult to see anything. “Stay here!” she told Pinkie as she started to make her way to the sailor. She found the rudder spinning out of control and Timber lying on the floor a couple of hooves away from it, unconscious.

“Twilight, what’s going on??” asked Rainbow.

“It’s Timber! I think he hit his head! He’s unconscious!”

Another wave hit the boat from the side, making everypony fight to gain balance again. Twilight grabbed hold of the shipwheel, and started pulling it.

“What are y’all doin’?!” shouted Applejack. “You don’t know how to steer this thing!”

“At least I know it’s not supposed to spin out of control!! Keep doing what Timber asked you to—“ CRACK a lightning bolt lit up the night’s sky, offering a glimpse of the tall waves and chaotic sea that they were all facing. The boat felt like a ragdoll being thrown from side to side. At any given moment it could flip over, sending everypony crashing into the icy water.

Rainbow knew that, even if she tried flying, she couldn’t help them all.

“Applejack!”

Not to mention that they would probably be struck by lightning in mid-air.

“Applejack!!”

“What?!”

She wasn’t scared of dying… but she was scared of losing her marefriend.

“We need to talk!!”

The orange pony widened her eyes and then frowned. If she wouldn’t have been holding that rope she probably would’ve strangled Rainbow with it.

“Out of all the—NOW you wanna talk?!”

“I know, it’s not really a good time!!”

“A good time?!? You’re CRAZY, ya know that?!”

Another wave came crashing down on top of them. They both shook their heads. A gust of wind hit them from the back, so Rainbow had to loosen up the rope, lowering the sails.

“I’m sorry!! I’m really sorry!!”

The wind intensified which took the pegasus by surprise.

“And it took ya TWO darned days to say that?! Ah should-- Of all the—would ya STOP flying?!!”

“I’m NOT flying!! Pegasi are LIGHTER than earth ponies!!”

“This is not really the POINT of our conversation!”

“Yeah, well, it’s hard to focus with this STORM around us!!”

CRACK! another lightning bolt flashed, covering their shouts.

“—and furthermore, I don’t remember you complaining about my WEIGHT in BED!!”

“Ah was being polite!!”

“WHAT?!”

The vessel changed its direction again under Twilight’s desperate efforts to keep it steady. The wind started blowing sideways, making Applejack loosen the grip and Rainbow pulling harder, hoisting the sail.

“Ah’m not sure if we’re doing this correctly!!”

“Forget the sail! Didn’t you hear what I just said??”

“Yeah, well, y’all should’ve said that TWO DAYS ago!!”

“I was scared!!”

“Scared of what??”

“Of Fluttershy!! Or the Guards!! Or Pinkie finding out!!”

“Finding out whaaaat??” asked Pinkie from across the boat.

Rainbow turned to her.

“Applejack and I are togetheeeeer!!”

“HOLY CELESTIAAAA!!” she shouted, and the couple wasn’t really sure if she was happy or simply terrified of falling over the side of the boat. “I KNEW IT!!”

“Maybe this is NOT a good time!!” yelled Twilight from the other end of the vessel.

Rarity just sat and watched, wondering why life is so cruel that she couldn’t even die amongst dignified ponies.

“It never is!!” Rainbow shouted back at the purple unicorn and then turned towards her marefriend. “I should’ve been there for you and I messed up!! I know, I let you down!! I’m not asking for another chance… I just want you to forgive me!!”

“Another chance?! What are you talking about??” asked the earth pony.

“I saw you and that colt, Aalden!! I’m not okay with this… but I’d rather let you go than lose you all of a sudden!! But he’d better make you HAPPY!!”

“Alright, now Ah’m convinced… you ARE crazy!! He was askin’ for mah advice on somethin’!!”

“I don’t thi—“ SPLASH another cold wave crashed upon them. Twilight had to use her magic to hang on to the rudder. Pinkie was almost sure she has swallowed a fish. Rarity was just imagining the words on her tombstone: ‘She TRIED to die with dignity… but ended up as a paperweight in a boat’

“*cough* I don’t think so!!” continued Rainbow as if the conversation never stopped.

“Dash, for cryin’ out loud, he’s a coltcuddler!! He didn’t want anypony to know that! That’s why he wanted to talk in private!”

Dash blinked… or, at least, tried to blink with all the rain hitting her from all directions.

“Ah guess it don’t matter anymore since we’re all gonna DIE anyway!!”

“Sorry… I… I panicked!!”

“You ALWAYS panic!!”

“That’s because I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH!! I don’t want to lose you!!” Dash shouted, covering the roaring waves.

“That’s adoraaaableee!!” yelled Pinkie who was probably already planning a double-sided cake-surprise…thing.

“No, Dash, Ah don’t think that’s the main reason!!”

Dash remembered what she felt the past few days. Applejack looked at her and she seemed to nod her head.

“You’re right, it’s not! I love you… but I don’t want to lose MYSELF in other ponies’ eyes! …and I hate that!!”

“You don’t have to hate it, Rainbow!!” shouted Twilight, almost involuntarily. “You just have to learn to work with it!!”

“She’s right!! And Ah understand more than you can imagine!! I would react the same in front of mah family!! …we both have to work on this relationship, Dash!! Nopony is an expert… and it sure is a lot more difficult than growing trees or practicing flying tricks!! ”

Rainbow couldn’t tell if she was crying or if there were raindrops in her eyes.

“I’m sorry!! It won’t happen again!!”

“Even if it does… TALK TO ME!!” her marefriend shouted, smiling at her.

Rainbow nodded, the storm inside her settling down.

“I would totally kiss you right now, AJ!!” she said, tugging on the rope she was holding.

“Ah would kiss you too, Rainbow!! …but Ah don’t think our friends would appreciate it if we all drowned!!”

“How NICE of you!!” yelled Twilight, exhausted. “How do ponies DRIVE these things?!? Who MADE boats?!?!”

CRACK! a lightning bolt was reflected by the black waves. Rarity jumped as Fluttershy shouted “Gotcha!” and simply flew from her arms, diving right into the water.

“Fluttershy!!!” she cried after her. Everypony froze. Moments passed without a single sign from the yellow pegasus when, suddenly, the boat started rising out of the water, shaking fiercely. The boat tilted, making everypony fall to the ground.

Another lightning threw light upon a shiny surface underneath the boat and a yellow pegasus flying towards them. Fluttershy landed near her friends.

“Fluttershy, have you gone mad?!” asked Rarity, baffled.

“Oh, I’m sorry… but I couldn’t risk losing him again. I kept seeing the whale in the distance and I thought I should try asking him to be kind enough to carry us to the nearest island,” she replied, rubbing her hooves together. “I didn’t mean to scare you… I’m sorry…”

“Sorry?” repeated Twilight. “That was… brilliant!! You saved us all, Fluttershy!”

“Well, not me… My new friend did,” said the pegasus, smiling cheerfully. “I’m just glad I managed to see him.”

“Can I stop holding the boat now??” asked Pinkie, shivering.

Twilight let out a small giggle. “I think we’ll survive if you let go of the boat, Pinkie.”

“Oh, finally!” the pink pony said, grateful that she could move her hooves again freely. “I tried my best to keep it straight, but you all were making this really difficult for me with your playing around with the bed sheet and the wheel-thingie!”

“Bed sheet? Wheel-thingie??” asked Rarity, wondering if everypony lost their minds somewhere between here and the docks. “Pinkie you were not holding the boat, you were just using your weight to—“

Twilight gently tapped her hoof, signaling her to be quiet. “I think Pinkie did a good job, don’t you, Rarity?”

The white unicorn blinked… and finally gave in. “Yes… of course… great job holding the… boat. Now, if anypony needs me, I’ll be over there, pondering ways to drown my luck. …metaphorically, of course.”
The ponies giggled as their friend sat down in a corner and started working on her hair.

Applejack looked at her marefriend who was already glancing towards her. Rainbow approached her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. They tightly hugged each other, realizing how much both of them missed this feeling they might have once taken for granted.

“I love you.”

“Ah love you too”

Their coats were wet, their manes were a mess and their hooves were sore. None of it mattered though, because the entire world disappeared for a few precious seconds and they shared a long desired kiss as the whale gently carried them to a new shore.

End of Chapter 7