Well At Least It Floats
The deck of the Princess Stardust was much wider than Rainbow Dash had anticipated. She touched down in the very center, gazing at the slate gray metal planks covering the surface of the vessel. Many of the rivets had long rusted, and the second story cabin that stuck out of the stern was roughly hewn together out of raw, industrial metals. The vessel didn't even have a coat of paint, and judging from the dense materials making up the bulk of the ship, Rainbow pondered how the thing could still remain afloat.
"It's not exactly... uhm..." Rainbow tongued the inside of her muzzle. "...inspiring, is it?"
"Mrmmmff!" Flynn touched down on the deck, dropping his saddlebags. He flashed her a sweaty glance, brow raised over his natural eye. "Since when was the Austraeoh a big critic on seafaring?"
"More like 'skyfaring,'" Rainbow Dash droned, ruby eyes traveling across the lengths of the simple watercraft. "Forgive me, buddy. I guess it's just that... after spending months on the most badflank skystone manaship known to ponydom... nothing can ever compete."
"Heh... yeah..." Swooosh! Ariel landed, laying a few satchels beside the gray cabin doors at the rear. "I bet anything with a hull must have felt lame to you ever since."
"Mmmmmmm... no..." Rainbow's ears twitched as she gazed towards the star-lit waters. "Nick's trimaran, the Swan Song, was pretty dang smexxy, if I do say so myself."
"Mrmmmff... grnnngh..." Logan hissed and sputtered, eventually pulling his obese self up onto the main deck. "Yeah, well, I guess that makes Flynn's dinghy a regular chastity device."
"Look." Flynn frowned. "It's practical. Alright?! Besides..." He tossed what was left of his mane. "Do you really wanna be sailing on a shiny, sparkly cruise ship at this point? We sure as Hell can't afford to attract any Rohbreddenite attention."
Bard landed with Echo in his grasp.. "He's got a point, y'all. Besides..." He smirked. "Any boat in a storm, right?"
"I believe the terminology is 'port,' Johnny," Nicole said, hovering above. "...or is it pontoon?"
"Mrmmff..." Flynn rolled his good eye and proceeded to unlock the doors to the cabin. "Land lubbers."
"Well!" Kepler landed with his belongings. "We most cerrtainly have a storrm ahead! An endless storrm!" He smiled through his tusks. "And, quite frrankly, dearr frriends, I cannot fathom a betterr vessel to trraverrse such uncerrtain waterrs than ourr verry own brrotherr Flynn's!"
"Yeesh..." Logan rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You'd think with such pointy tusks, he'd know better than to attempt sucking up." He turned and hollered over the port side. "Lob 'em up, ya fuzzy lizard!"
Three heavy satchels flew up and into Logan's strong grasp. "Do not assume that you can afford such an attitude in all situations, mortal," Remna's voice echoed from below.
"You can kill me when I'm dead," Logan said. Wildcard flew up and assisted him in shuffling and reorganizing the supplies on deck.
"Well..." Nicole gulped, then smiled. "At least it has a pretty name."
"Won't get any complaints out of me," Rainbow Dash murmured. "Princesses are good for luck."
"Among other things," Ariel said.
"Hold it in, girl." Rainbow turned to face Flynn. "I gotta ask, though..." Her brow furrowed. "This ship seems super heavy. How exactly does it... y'know... go?"
Cl-Clank! "Hah!" With a victorious grin, Flynn unlocked the cabin and slid the noisy metal doors open. "Come right inside and I'll show you!" He motioned for the mare.
Rainbow Dash followed Flynn as the two shuffled into the dark hold of the cabin.
The interior was just as sparse and simple on the inside as it was on the outside. Rainbow could now see why the Herald was so desperate for supplies. The vessel's hold was barren—which was likely a good thing. Rainbow still couldn't make out just how long the craft had been moored in hiding. Anything that would have been stored away would very likely have spoiled years ago.
Despite its long abandonment, the utter bleakness of the waterscape outsided afforded little to no infestation. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief to not encounter a single cobweb. Flynn's horn illuminated the geometric interiors and crossbeams of the cabin's upper floor. They passed through what appeared to be a bulkhead that had been blowtorched open, exposing a spacious chamber that normally—Rainbow assumed—would not have been accessible in the original factory model of the craft.
"It really looks like this thing came off an assembly line," Rainbow remarked.
"You would be right," Flynn said, his breath still tingling with a pinch of pride. "This was originally a dredge coal mining ship, used for hauling raw ore all across the western and southern prefectures."
"Uhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash suddenly winced, gazing nervously at all of the dark recesses of the cabin. "Should... sh-should we really be talking and breathing down here, then?!"
"Pffft. Relax." Flynn waved a hoof. "I've put this baby through several manasweeps since then. It's cleaner than a honeymoon bidet."
"Cute." Rainbow squinted at a series of dull crystals lined up—three in total—and embedded into the rearmost wall of the top cabin chamber. "Is... is that the propulsion?"
"It wasn't originally," Flynn said. "This whole compartment we're standing in used to be the housing chamber for a huge steam engine. I... uh... modified it. Sliced a bunch of metal barricades. Ripped some of the guts out. And... eureka!" He pointed at the crystals. "I replaced all of the unnecessary oily gizmos with squeaky clean manabatteries!"
"And that's gonna push us through Bleak's Plummet and beyond?"
"I promise you—it's got enough juice in it." Flynn winked his good eye. "We're not talking about a full trip around the Rohbredden continent. And besides..." He cleared his throat. "It's not like we can ride the Stardust to the Dark Side."
"Isn't it... like... all water, though?"
"Not... exactly..." Flynn cleared his throat. "The waters of the ocean that reach the Dark Side are jettisoned outward into the ether by chaotic forces, then returned to precipitate over much of this part of the plane."
"Yeesh. Trippy."
"Wait until you actually see it," Flynn said. "Nah... the only way to reach the Dark Side is through alicorn means."
"You mean the devices Mortuana spoke of?"
Flynn nodded.
"Heh... cool." Rainbow pivoted about. "There's something to look forward to, at least."
"Wanna see the rest of the cabin? Below deck?"
"... ... ...is there anything worth seeing down there?"
"Nope!" Flynn grinned, but motioned nevertheless. "Come look!"
Scrkkkkkkkk!
With much struggle, Flynn eventually slid a stubborn metal door open. Tiny portholes allowed narrow beams of gray starlight to stream across the curved hollow belly of the metal vessel.
"Pretty roomy on the inside, huh?" Flynn smiled. "And while it might look and sound like a big metal can sliced in half—I promise you—the thickness of the hull will muffle the thunder outside just enough for you to get some much-needed shuteye between here and the Sixth Seed." He coughed. "Should you feel the need to lazy your prismatic head down... of course."
Rainbow Dash stared, unblinking.
"So what do you think, Rainbow, huh?"
Rainbow blinked. She looked to the left. All of the metal rafters were barren. She looked to the right. The hull's support beams on that side of the cabin were likewise devoid of anything hanging from them.
"... ... ...Rainbow?"
"Uh huh." Rainbow turned right around. "I think I'll sleep on the top deck. With the thunder."
"H-huh?" Flynn blinked awkwardly. "But... but the empty oil drums! You see them, right? You can cook a hefty omelette in them! Hey! Rainbow, hold up!" He scampered after her.
In the meantime, a pink spectre emerged from a column of ruby light.
"Duaaaaaaaah..." Pinkie Pie yawned. She blinked—bleary-eyed—at the rusted walls. On a dime, the mare smiled with spastic enthusiasm. "Oh hey! Princess Stardust! Coolio!"
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Gotta have that hammock, man. It's mandatory.
Well to be fair, two of the Austraeoh's personal craft in the past didn't exactly exhibit behavior that one would call "smooth sailing"...
Looks like Rainbow Dash got her ticket downgraded from business to economy. The water being jettisoned into the ether and coming back as rain seems awesome. I'm curious on what happens to a boat if it rides the water toward the edge. Would the boat continue and fall as the water disappeared into the ether and if so how far would it fall? We don't know how thick the plain is or what happens when one hits the edge. This has been hinted at before, but it is nice to get more details on the matter.
Looks like smooth sailing from here to the Edge. What could possibly go wrong?
It's pretty sparse now, but give it a day or so and I imagine each room will be like a little home for all of them.
And heck, Dash can probably jury rig a hammock out of clouds, or some fishing net if they have one.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
I'll be in my ham—
Damn it IC
Well. That answers that question.
Nice little tour of RD and the rests new home for at least quite a while. Rainbow really needs to figure out how to jury rig a hammock up, she wants one so badly.
I like it. Simple. Practical. Only a roughly fifty/fifty chance of getting tetanus just from breathing the air. Real ships got rust.
Princess Stardust =/= Discount Noble Jury
Well, its no NJ, but it looks like it'll do.
7419147 It would probably end up precipitating over much of this side of the plane.
This got me thinking, how would Rohbreddenittes react to Ledomaritan(and similar) aircrafts? If Searo and lizard designs would be like UFOs, then big dirigibles like Lightning Bearer would be something straight from the Independence Day.
I hope they've all gotten their tetanus shots.
7419158 Zap
Wat r u doin
Zap
Stahp
I'm still waiting for the next joke about Dash's blight-raft...
So you're saying that there'll be an opportunity for Remna to beat a dead horse? (I apologize for nothing)
IC is totally saving a Major Kong sequence for next April 1st chapter.
7419168 beat me to it...
No hammock for the prismatic east horse? Guess who isn't getting any damned sleep! But... did Dash and Luna finish their special enchantment? Because I kinda thought she'd need to be out in the open for that to keep going on. Or did I just blindly miss it? Also, the sudden cessation of those conversations is a little weird, but that might just be me. Even so, things are about to get under way for the Herald, and we're another step closer to the next seed and Bleak's Plummet.
~SolidFire
7419147
They'll almost fall off the edge and just in time be saved by a sea troll named Tethys. I read it in a book once
So... who's first mate?
Well... It has character, I guess..?
It's missing a few things but it's home...for now anyway
I mustve been spoiled by working on the things, but
i.ytimg.com/vi/SKauILuXsKg/hqdefault.jpg
this ISNT a large steam engine.
THIS
i.ytimg.com/vi/LASAPj2Fn6g/hqdefault.jpg
Is a Large steam engine.
I believe I saw somewhere it was 12000 HP.
I want to see just how that heap of junk can move, and if Flyns added more than just Mana batteries to the drive system. After all this time the motivator might not be as such and the Shunt might be more Thomas the Tank Engine then Millenium Falcon.
Needs more hammoks.
I miss the Noble Jury
.
Edit: as to how long food could last, that depends on the food. Pickled or canned items could potentially last decades, and honey could have been put in there by Mortuana when she was a filly and it would STILL be edible.
I hate to sail on this rusty tub.
No grog allowed and rotten grub!
Sounds like a fun voyage ahead to me. Who's going to get seasick first?
Well. At least the boat isn't going to send up a major smoke plume that you can see miles away.
At least I won't be alone up in the Crow's Nest. Though I will probably be thoroughly soaked.
Reminds me of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Poor Rainbow... The last time she had a hammock was in Rust, more than two month before, to not give her one is torture at this point !
7416269 I, too, think ignoring the shaved mane and tail is for the best. The picture works great without the context of the story, and the details that need a context will just get questions from people who don't read Utaan, as they will also enjoy the picture by itself, as it is great.
7420358 Which she never even got to sleep in.
7419232
I read that as New Jersey. That comparison makes this comment ironically hilarious.
7419498 Well, at least they won't suffer from 'tides'.
7420772 Well, that begs the question. Which is better: New Jersey, or Princess Stardust?
Got a kick out of how excited Flynn was to show off his boat. It will be very interesting to see if this boat allows them to avoid Chandler all together, or just delays the epic battle. I wouldn't mind it if Chandler just wasted his time perpetually searching for Dash and Co. who aren't even there anymore.
That is incredibly trippy, but it's good to know there's at least some sort of explanation for how the ocean doesn't just disappear due to being near the Dark Side.
This has just occurred to me. It may have been mentioned and refuted before. But... Once Rainbow obtains the Harmonic Prism, what's stopping her from just entering the Machine World, flying through, and coming out on the light side? Other than potential ground-bound allies.
7421850
You know now that I think about it I don't think anything is. IIRC a few people have suggested that the tower might have a direct connection to the Canterlot mountain as a kind of little joke that she could have just done that the whole time.
7421850 There'd have to be a hidden entrance or tower in Canterlot, and as far as has been mentioned, there is not.
She'd have to get to Ponyville anyway, since that's where Celestia is stuck.
I did see that as a joke comment once, Dash digging through the world and ending up in Sugarcube corner.
7422899
derpicdn.net/img/2012/7/29/61111/thumb.jpg
Welcome to the coast of silence.
I wonder where Flynn keeps his hydroponics setup...
RIP Rainbow Dash
Whenever-2016
Died Without a Hammock
7422813
Not necessarily. I just meant, if she can find an entrance on the dark side, even heading to the Windthrow entrance would surely be faster. I forget exactly when, but she's traversed horizontally through the MW before, I'm pretty sure. It was in one of the first two books.
7421850 To be fair I expect that the dark side journey would have less stops and detours, and the west horse brigade have made the rest of the light side journey smooth sailing.
7424599 It was the first (windthrow) and second (blue shelf).
I'd ask how Pinkie Pie knows that, but it's pinkie pie.
They keep saying it'll be cramped, and it's definitely smaller than the Jury, but with rooms this bare, it shouldn't be an issue.
Hm, it seems aside from closure to the Bard and Blue farm arc, not much has happened in my three month absence. Aside from a boat being named after the forum post I completely derailled with Scotland related banter, as the almighty Colon wills it. With how catastrophic things have been in the real world, the fictional horse realms seem positively placid. Regardless, I return.
I suppose the impending encounter with nightmare bat horse pirate savages or the deus vult angry divine retribution army will yield drama in the near future. And it seems that the Apple Masochist Torture Montage is bound for immediate catastrophe upon its recommission. I suppose it is then, hardly the best time to come back, just before all the imminent action cliffhanger moments I'd rather read in one cohesive aggregation. Oh well. Good to be back among you, fellow Princess Stardust-ists, or whatever contemporary monicker is championed by the customary strange new hipster movement spawned from the Jury's skunkworks in this book.
So the boat doesn't have any furnishings at all, I would imagine Rarity will be appalled at the lack of interior design.
Is everyone going to sleep on the floor? I suppose they may have sleeping bags, but I would imagine there would be a noticeable difference between sleeping on soil and cold, hard, rusted steel. At least you can get rid of a loose rock underneath you, but it seems that they will have to just deal with rivets poking them in the back.
Best philosophy
Hammocks are in low supply in this side of the Blight, it would seem. More reason to get the hell over the edge.
You have no idea how hard I'm restraining myself from shipping puns all through this chapter.
Also, no hammocks? Then where is Dashie going to snuggle Ariel?
This makes me realize we truly have no idea what the edge is going to look like, it’ll probably be like Rainbow said...trippy
Yeah, I’ve been thinking for awhile...how exactly are they going to get to the dark side? I guess I assumed flying, but that would mean she’s in space, right? I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
Well it ain't no Nimble Janitor, but it will have to do.
Also...is this ship from another fic? We all know Pinkie has extremely accute jenre awareness.