The rocking of the ship was hard to get used to at first. Twilight's night on the ocean wasn't as restful as she'd hoped. The bright sunlight that hit her face as she emerged from below deck helped to wake her up. She saw the Captain at the helm and started towards him. When she reached the top of the stairs she turned to look at the deck. The sailors were scattered around the deck, most of them without much to do. Twilight spotted Dinge. He met her gaze for a moment then turned away without so much as a nod. Twilight shrugged it off.
"Miss Sparkle!" Cardinal said from the wheel. "Sleep well?"
"I've never slept on a ship before, but I managed. Thanks again for letting me aboard."
"Eh, hard to say no to a little extra money. Plus, I think the lads could use a pretty face on board. To lift their spirits, you know?"
"Dinge doesn't seem very impressed with me."
"Oh, that's just his way."
Twilight observed the sailors as they went about their work. Dinge was on the far side of the deck managing a small group. "Hold on," she said. "Dinge doesn't have a cutie mark!" Dinge's flank was black and bare.
"Don't let him hear you say that!" Cardinal said. "He's sensitive about it." He sighed. "Dinge has had a hard life. He hasn't had much time to find his special talent. Hasn't been exposed to the greatest environments to do so, either. We've been through a lot together. He's saved my life a few times. He hasn't any family or friends to go to, so he and I run this ship together. When we have some time off, he stays with me and my niece and her daughter. You'd never guess it, but he's as gentle as a kitten around that little foal."
Twilight raised her eyebrow. "Really? Forgive me if I find that hard to believe."
"It's true! Don't let that tough exterior of his get to 'ya. Somewhere in there is tender, loving colt...don't tell him I said that."
"My lips are sealed."
"Now," Cardinal bent his head towards a compass he had fixed on some sort of device that kept it level. "You're probably wondering exactly how long you'll have to be on this boat."
"Oh, yes," she replied. "Also where exactly do you plan to drop me off?"
"Razorpoint," Twilight flinched at the name. "It's a tiny town by the shore. They get more visits from international traders than any other port town in the whole province. Maybe five ships a year."
"So few?"
"That whole country is very cut off. Razorpoint is in the south shore."
"Oh yes, here, I have a map." Twilight drew out the most current map of Skyrim she had and spread it out. The captain looked over it quickly and pointed a hoof at a spot on the south shore.
"There," he said. "It's too small a place to be labeled, but that's where it is, by that little dip in the shoreline there."
Twilight dotted and labeled the town with a quill she had packed. "Hm. A ridge of mountains circles the whole province. I'll have to get through those to get the main cities."
"Good luck with that," Cardinal said. "I hear those mountains are the most dangerous in the world."
"There's got to be some kind of trail. Maybe I should try to find a guide."
"That sounds like a good idea," he adjusted the direction of the wheel slightly. "Maybe one of the locals would be willing to help you."
"I'll look into it. When will we get there?"
Cardinal sniffed the air. "The wind is with us. We'll be there by sundown. We won't dock, since we have no trade business there. I'll have someone row you to shore."
"Thanks."
Something caught Cardinal's eye in the sails above him. "Ah, just a bird."
Twilight followed his gaze and saw a giant white bird soaring above the sails. She squinted at it. "That's..."
"I'll take care of it, captain!" A voice cried. A pegasus sailor soared past them. He had a knife in his mouth.
"Wait!" Twilight cried. The pegasus was suddenly torn back by a puff of magic encompassing his tail. He only raised an eyebrow at her. "That's an Albatross!" she said.
"So?" the pegasus replied.
"You can't kill and Albatross! It's bad luck! Haven't you read the story?"
"That's just a legend." The pegasus rolled his eyes.
Twilight sighed. "If I've learned anything over the past few years it's that not all legends are untrue."
"Aye, I'd listen to her, boy," Cardinal chimed in.
The pegasus pouted in disappointment and fluttered away. Twilight looked up at the bird. It continued to glide lazily above the masts. It was a beautiful sight. Twilight thought that Fluttershy would have loved to meet an Albatross. She frowned. It probably would be quite a while before she saw her friends again.
"Do you think it'll follow us all the way to Skyrim?"
"It's possible." Cardinal tapped the compass in satisfaction. "Our course is set. All we have to do now is wait." He rested his hoof on the wheel. "Looks like the crew is getting together to play cards. Keep an eye on 'em for me, would you?"
Twilight smiled. "Sure."
A group of sailors were gathering on the deck in a cramped circle. Twilight pushed her way through and they made way for her near the center, where two colts sat on either side of a board. They weren't playing cards, but rather a game that was unfamiliar to Twilight involving the placement of tiles on a grid. One of the colts pondered for quite a long while on his next move. When he finally placed a tile, the other colt cried out in exasperation, hitting himself in the forehead. The audience had a similar reaction.
The other colt laughed, "Don't get so discouraged! You still have a chance to win."
Twilight watched the game intently, trying to figure out the rules. After a while almost the whole board was covered in pieces. Finally the winning colt placed another piece, and the whole audience flinched with the opposing colt and echoed his moan of defeat. Jingling filled the air as everypony exchanged sums of coins.
"You bet on the game?" Twilight asked the group.
"Of course," said the winning colt. He flashed a smile as he caught a small purse of coins that was tossed to him by the loser. "Do you play?"
"Actually, I've never even seen this game before."
"We picked it up in Eleswyr a while back. Here, we'll teach you how to play." He stood and motioned for Twilight to take the seat that was being abandoned by the loser.
"Oh no, that's okay," Twilight said. "I don't want to interrupt."
"I'm sure the boys wouldn't mind, would you, lads?"
Twilight jumped when the group suddenly roared with invitations to play. They were incredibly excited to see her interested in their game. Twilight smiled, embarrassed at all the attention. She was nudged over to the empty place in front of the winning colt, who was clearing the board of pieces.
"My name's Galleon," he said. "Or Leon, for short."
"Twilight Sparkle," she responded.
He gave her friendly nod and began to explain the rules. The audience looked on quietly, a juvenile sort of excitement in their eyes. It was not unlike a small group of school ponies gathering around the teacher to listen to a story. Leon helped her through a few short games to help introduce the rules. When they started playing real games, the captain could hear Twilight's cries of frustration from the helm. He chuckled to himself.
Leon laughed at her too. "You move too quickly," he said, clearing the board again. "You have to think through your next move carefully."
"I do!" she said. "I plan out a strategy in the beginning and I carry it out as fast as I can. You just keep messing it up!"
"Your thinking too much in chess terms. This game changes dramatically with each turn. You have to really think through each and every move as it comes. Be patient."
Twilight nodded. "Ok, I think I understand. Let's go again."
The next few games lasted quite a bit longer. Coins were exchanged often, and the audience looked on with anticipation. The last game took the longest. Twilight thought through every move very carefully, and Leon was getting nervous. The onlookers leaned a fraction closer with every move. Finally as Twilight contemplated her next move, the board was almost full, and everypony held their breath. The minutes ticked by, and finally Twilight picked up a piece and placed it just so. The audience cried out triumphantly and Leon sighed in defeat.
"I've taught you well," he said, bowing slightly.
"You did," Twilight said. "Thank you very much." She noticed how stiff her back was and tried to stretch it out. "Goodness. How long were we at it?"
"A few hours. In fact, I think it's almost time to eat."
Almost on cue a pony wearing an apron and blue bandanna around his head emerged from below deck. "Meal time, lads!" He cried. The group dispersed to retrieve bowls of some sort of soup and some bread. The captain appeared by the stairs and called to the cook, "Make sure the lady gets some too, will ya?"
"Aye, aye, captain!" He called back. He gave Twilight a bowl and some bread. He ladled some thick green soup from a kettle into her bowl and moved on to other waiting sailors. Twilight looked warily at the soup. It looked a little suspicious, but she didn't want to be rude.
"It's really not that bad," Leon said as he sat down next to her. He help the bowl in his hooves and sipped the hot soup. "I know it looks like gruel, but Bayleaf's a great cook. He turns slop into gold." Twilight sniffed the liquid and found that it actually smelled quite good. When she tasted it, she thought it was simply pea soup at first, but then she detected hints of pickle and tomato, oddly enough. It should have tasted awful, but it wasn't. Twilight wasn't surprised to see Bayleaf's cooking cutie mark as he passed by.
The crew ate their fill of the soup, the bowls and scraps of bread were collected, and everypony lounged about the deck. Some napped in the sun, some mumbled conversation, some retreated below deck. Twilight sat with Leon. He dozed against the main mast post and Twilight quietly lay nearby, observing the crew. She guessed the time was somewhere around noon, as the sun was highest in the sky. She wondered if they would arrive at Razorpoint anytime soon, and shifted uncomfortably as impatience tried to worm its way inside her.
Twilight was looking over her supplies in an attempt to occupy herself when she heard somepony humming across deck. One of the sailors was leaning against the railing, looking over the ocean. He was humming a tune quietly at first, but then grew in volume. A nearby sailor joined in, tapping his hoof along with the beat, and then another started singing the words.
"There once was a hero named Ragnar the Red," he started. A few others joined in, "Who came riding to Whiterun from old Rorikstead!" Several others joined in.
"And the braggart did swagger and and brandish his blade,"
"As he talked of bold battles and gold he had made!"
Eventually the whole boat was singing and clomping to the song. One of the sailors took Twilight's hoof and started dancing. She found herself in the middle of a circle of sailors again. "But then he went quiet did Ragnar the Red when he met the shield-maiden Matilda who said," The dancing paused and the song was silent for a beat, and when the sailor realized Twilight didn't know the song he continued for her, "Oh you talk and you lie and you drink all our mead! Now I think it's high time that you lie down and bleed!"
The whole boat resonated with the hoofbeats. Somepony had started playing a harmonica. "And so then there came clashing and slashing of steel, as the brave lass Matilda charged in full of zeal! And the braggart named Ragnar was boastful no moooooore! When his ugly red head rolled around on the floor!" All the sailors cheered and laughed when the last note ended. Twilight smiled.
"That's awful," Twilight laughed. "Such a bloody story!"
"Aye," said the sailor that danced with her. "It's an ancient tune from Skyrim, you noticed the town names?"
"I did, yes."
"It's a violent place. Only fitting to have violent songs too. You botched your line, though."
"Sorry," She smiled. "I hadn't heard it before."
"It's a simple tune. Let's do it again, this time you sing!"
The whole affair was repeated, but this time Twilight sang along with everyone. She got a little embarrassed when they let her sing Matilda's line alone, but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The crew spent the next few hours in song. Twilight didn't know many of them, but she was happy to learn. A few of the crew members brought out some of their instruments at one point and started playing together. Twilight look out her pan flute and looked at it quizzically. She tried to play it, but produced yet another awful sounding noise. She looked at it more closely, from an engineering perspective. "The way it was carved," she mumbled to herself. "looks like it's meant to redirect air through little openings to produce sound. But-"
"You're not playing it right," Leon said. He had appeared beside her without her noticing. "Here, like this." He took the flute from her and blew over the tops of one of the pipes. It made a beautiful wispy sound that Twilight was able to just recreate when she tried again. "That's it!" Leon said. "Now try this." He played the first few notes of Ragnar the Red on the flute and gave it to Twilight. After much trial and error, she was able to replicate it exactly. "See?" he said. "It's not so hard. Can you get the rest of the song?"
"I think so..." Twilight spent the next half hour or so learning to play Ragnar the Red on her pan flute. When she finally played through it perfectly, Leon applauded her.
"Miss," somepony said. Twilight saw a small group of sailors approaching. "We were wondering," on of them said. "Do you have any songs you could sing us?"
"Me!? Oh-oh no I don't think so-"
"Come on, pleeease?" The sailors started crowding around her, putting on adorable puppy eyes.
"I...I guess I maybe-"
The sailors cheered loudly and led her away. "Wait a second," Twilight panicked. "I'm not entire sure if-"
"OYE! The lady's gonna sing to us!" one of sailors called. The whole deck cheered loudly. To her great dismay, Twilight was placed on the stairs to the helm. Everyone gathered around her on the deck. Twilight had never been very nervous when speaking to crowds, but singing was a different matter. At least, in front of strangers it was odd.
"I uh..." I said nervously.
"Don't worry, miss!" called one of a group of sailors holding instruments. "Just start off, and we'll join in."
"I don't know if I know any songs you'd know. Everything I know is...girly."
The group chuckled. "We don't care," called one. "Just improvise!"
"Oh...ok. Give me beat, then."
The whole group began stamping a steady beat. Twilight motioned for the musicians to start playing. When the beat and tune became consistent, Twilight bounced along with the beat to get it right in her head. The beat was slow and steady but somepony with a fiddle set the tune twice as fast. It was a fun sounding song so far, Twilight just had to get the right words out there. When the fiddle finished a short solo and returned to a steady stream of notes, she started singing.
In her song she recalled her brother's wedding and the Changeling invasion. She sang about how Cadence was an imposter and how she and her friends failed to retrieve the Elements.
Instead of ending the song with what really happened, she ended the story with a darker turn of events, thinking the sailors would prefer it to an explosion of love-magic and a wedding.
The band finished off with a quick flourish, and the crew whistled and clopped. Twilight heard calls of "another!" "Yes, please! Another one!" "Just one more!"
"That one was improvised," Twilight said. "I can sing you a real one this time, if you don't mind something light." The crowd collectively made an excited affirmative noise, and Twilight turned to the band. "I'll start this time. You can improvise once you get the melody." They nodded happily. Twilight turned to the crowd and thought for a second, shifting nervously. "This is one we sing in Ponyville every Spring," she said. She cleared her throat.
"The time has come to welcome Spring,
and all things warm and green.
But it's also time to say goodbye,
It's Winter we must clean."
The band joined in and eventually the crew was dancing along with the catchy tune. When the final note finally died away, the deck boomed with cheers. Twilight blushed and bowed slightly, laughing. She heard clopping behind her, and turned to see the captain listening in from the helm.
"I don't think I've ever seen the crew so excited," he said. "I should hire you as our permanent bard!" They both laughed. The moment was full of laughter and excitement. The audience had started to sing the song over again themselves. It was interesting for Twilight to hear it sung entirely by world-worn, male voices. She liked how it sounded.
Suddenly everything went silent when a cry came from the crow's nest: "Land ho!"
The audience flew apart, every crewman sprinting to their stations. Ropes were pulled, pulleys squeaked, the deck creaked in protest against the stampede of hoofsteps. Twilight climbed up to the helm not only to get out of the way but also to catch the first glimpse of Skyrim beyond the prow.
It was just a tiny splotch on the horizon, a small gray line that wavered slightly to create the peaks of the Jerall Mountains. It was so close, but it would still be at least half an hour before they were close enough to row to shore. Twilight placed her front hooves on the railing and leaned over the edge of the ship in an attempt to get a better look.
"Don't worry," Cardinal said from the wheel. "We'll be there soon."