//------------------------------// // Chapter 2. Uni-Cornwall // Story: The Chronicles of Captain Cebrastian // by Crindorada //------------------------------// “Where have you been? We’ve been searching high and low for four hours already! Miserable town…” Mbizi told Ned off. It was early evening of the day when Hippotigris came to Uni-Cornwall. “Well, I wanted to tell you or Goreb where I would go, I really did! But I couldn’t. I didn’t know where I would go, it’s my first visit to Uni-Cornwall,” the cabin colt put down his ears in sorrow. “Sorry, I forgot about the time at all. Is captain very mad at me?” “Dunno. I saw him about two hours ago last time, and then he swore to tear off one’s ears as soon as he finds you, if I remember it right.” Ned smiled with a bit of hope. At least, captain didn’t swear to cast off without him, all the rest was tolerable. But Ned held up the whole crew again, and what’s more, zebras had to look for him, running around the town. He sighed and sat down, leaning against bulwarks. How many more mishaps would zebras forgive him? And, more importantly, what did captain Cebrastian think of him now, when Ned had let him down twice already in such a short period of time? Tears welled in his eyes, and Ned dashed them away angrily, but they would not stop returning. It seemed that real life of a sailor turned out to be far more difficult, than Ned had imagined. Ned tried with all his might to look worthy of that trust that the sailors from Hippotigris, this legendary zebra schooner, paid to him, but he failed. May be it meant that he didn’t make enough effort, and if so – did that also mean it would be better to come ashore immediately on his own will? May be, those who considered him too young for real voyages, were right? Should he follow their advice? Stick to the ground, live in one and the same town for the whole life and never ever dream of seafaring. Not to dishonor the glorious name of the schooner and her captain. Ned sobbed… “Hey, colt, what’s the matter? Hey, wait, please, don’t cry!” Mbizi heard Ned sobbing and sat down staring at him in surprise. “Listen, I am sorry, I didn’t mean to scold or scare you, just chose the wrong words! Of course no one is going to tear off anything from you, especially ears! If we tear off your ears, you’ll never ever listen to us again!” He gave a giggle and stopped short. The joke sounded offensive and inappropriate indeed, but Mbizi could not understand what to do to comfort the crying colt. He was not supposed to hug him, was he? At least Mbizi remembered himself at Ned’s age, and he certainly would not be happy with such lovey-dovey behavior. But the cabin colt ignored the question about the cause of his tears, and zebra didn’t quite catch, what the problem could be. “By ancestors, I wish you were a filly! At least I know what to do when they burst into tears!” “Do you?” Ned sniffed and frowned his suspicion at Mbizi. “I’m telling you the striped truth!” Mbizi puffed his chest up. “Does that always work?” “Surely it does!” “Then shall I pretend to be a filly?” “WHAT?!” “Well, you’ve just told me that you know what to do with a crying filly. And that you wish I was one, so you could do something with me,” Ned explained patiently. Mbizi thought that Ned successfully checked his tears himself, but the colt needed some time to realize that. “You see, if you just pretend, it won’t work. With a filly everything is simple, you just give her a nice warm hug and then… um, show her, how deeply you love her,” Mbizi tried to be careful with words, but as the cabin colt’s eyes welled with tears again, zebra surely said something wrong. “And me… You don’t love me at all, do you, Mbizi? Is that because I always let everypony down?” Ned asked in a very low voice. Mbizi gave a howl of despair and beat his head against the bulwarks. Why is it so difficult to deal with foals? Where is Goreb, their born mentor, where is the captain who can simply roar an order – and the problem is gone… Wait a minute! That’s it! Mbizi smiled and took a deep breath. “Away that!” He tried to imitate Cebrastian’s voice. Ned giggled, and Mbizi thought he was close to the captain’s manner. “Do you know there’s a punishment for tears on board? Combined with you being late for the cast off – it will be doubled. It means that you will be peeling apples whole day, by the way. So, I’ll go bring them here, and while peeling, you will tell me, where could one have gone lost in this provincial town for six hours!” “Wait, shouldn’t I be working in the galley? I thought, it is a much more appropriate place to… get wise.” Ned was surprised. “The most appropriate place for that on board of our schooner is the captain’s cabin, I tell you the striped truth. Because while captain is giving a tongue-lashing, you will pray to be wise enough not to get caught next time.” Ned didn’t have a chance to answer as Mbizi disappeared from the deck. He smiled, that must be why the taverns are full of rumors about the phantom ship. The sailors disappear from the deck like ghosts – so fast that you cannot notice the moment, and all in all captain Cebrastian prefers not to stay in one port for a long time without a reason. Ned sighed: without the reason, indeed! He hasn’t decided whether he should ask for permission to come ashore forever or it will look as if he made a mess and wanted to escape the consequences like a coward. And it seems that now he won’t have time to decide either as he was supposed to peel the apples and talk, and talk, and talk. Mbizi brought a basket full of apples to the deck and now was at the galley again choosing a saucepan for the peeled ones. Having chosen, he dropped two knives into it and settled by the main mast. “Well, I guess, I am ready to listen to you very carefully, colt!” Mbizi took one of the knives and sat down. “Why are looking at me like that? You didn’t think you would be peeling apples alone, did you?” “I thought, I was punished…” “That only proves how little you know about the punishments here. The real punishment will begin, if I start to question you. So you better tell me everything yourself. And I warn you, I like detailed, colorful and vivid stories!” Ned gave a sigh, sat by his side and started telling about his adventures in Uni-Cornwall. *** When captain Cebrastian and the ponies went away to have their negotiations, Goreb came up to Ned and gave him a purse. The boatswain explained that it was not the best idea to explore the new town without money, especially when you earned some. Then he returned to the sailors to choose those who would stay on watch, and Ned walked slowly to the exit from the port. He thought for a moment if he should wait for someone of the crew, but the idea seemed a bit stupid. Father used to say, that it was rude and impolite to bother the grown-ups without a good reason. And following a sailor who could have his own business in Uni-Cornwall just not to get lost or bored was certainly not a good reason. It also seemed childish, and Ned thought that as from now on he was a cabin colt at a real tall-ship, he was supposed to be grown up and sensible enough to be able to deal with the problems on his own. The cargo port of Uni-Cornwall merged into the passenger port and further lengthened into the broad quay paved with slabs of stones of all colors. Ned stopped at one of viewpoints for a minute or two, glanced at the sea and the horizon, smiled and turned round to pick up a narrow street to explore first. At the very first sight it was obvious that a unicorn town was so much different from down-to-earth, solid – even heavy-footed – Hoofre. The houses did not huddle together, and they didn’t overhang, no, the town was spacious, with detached houses, and Ned even saw here and there small front yards with flowers and lawns. But may be Ned just was judging his hometown too severely? He rarely went anywhere from the fisherponies guild after his father’s disappearance. Still, Hoofre was different. For example, the market place was girdled by houses. They were painted blue, orange, red and green, symbolizing the four town sections, and there were only five straight streets between them. The fifth one was shorter than the others and divided the green section in two halves, and there was the Town Hall at the other end. Ned smiled to his thoughts. They used to go to the market with his father, every week, taking the street between the orange and the blue sectors. It was good to remember that. And then there was the storm after which Ned’s father never came back… Ned didn’t pay much attention to the colors of his town after the tragedy. And the port, where they lived with the other fisherponies? It has always been gray, no matter when. Though before Ned would look more often at the colorful flags of the ships, or the sea, always of different color, or find a piece of colored glass to look through. Dad never approved that, but never threw away his “jewels” either. So port could become green or chocolate-brown, or even deep blue, if Ned was lucky enough to find such a chip. The houses in Uni-Cornwall were mostly white or pale-blue, some were pale-green. But the roofs! The roofs were amazing – colorfully tiled, high, sharp and steed. They often ended with a spire or a wind spinner. Lots of comets, telescopes or simply complicated ornaments danced their pirouettes with the wind. Ned could sometimes see a nice little balcony with a stained glass or a skylight here and there. He tried to walk slowly so that he had enough time to see everything, afraid to stop, as dad always said that it is very impolite to stand and stare, even at the most wonderful thing in the world. The sun was about to start sloping to the west horizon, and the unicorns, waiting out the heat of the day to be over at home or in small cozy taverns, appeared in the streets. They passed the time of day with each other and some of then even did that with Ned, more out of courtesy than real desire, may be, but the colt paid no attention to such nuisances and just smiled and sincerely saluted everypony he met on his way. The streets of Uni-Corwall were a real maze, but Ned didn’t choose his way on purpose, just turned randomly. Though straight streets of Hoofre were more habitual, the clock tower was a nice orienting point and Ned was not afraid to be lost or late. One can always ask somepony the direction in case. And captain Cebrastian told Ned that he had an hour for his sightseeing tour. Goreb looked at the sea and assured the cabin colt, that he has solid two hours, two and a half may be. Plenty of time, really! Ned could not think of an activity in a totally new port. Wandering around looking at the interesting houses? Oh, and he should find a post office! Ned never had free time and money to write a letter while living in Hoofre, and, to be honest, he had nopony to write to, but now… Why not send a message to the fisherponies? Slight but appetizing sweet savor of fresh pastry got to Ned’s nose and he remembered that quite a time had passed since he had had breakfast. He stopped in front of a small tavern and pushed the door. An avalanche of scents and sounds thundered around, but it differed from the noise in a port pub, where Ned used to go. This sharp contrast left Ned a little disoriented, but he was the only new visitor so there was no pony he could watch and copy the manners. “Would you like to have lunch, sir?” The calm voice nearly made Ned jump and he looked up to an elegant white unicorn with a bow-tie. His dark green mane was brushed back, not a hair out of place. Ned nodded without a word. No one called him “sir” before, so Ned was confused. “Have you got a reservation, sir?” The unicorn showed no sign of surprise or arrogance towards a blank-flank earthpony colt as if he had hordes of them each day visiting the restaurant. Ned shook his head saying nothing. “Follow me, please.” The white unicorn set a nice table by the window, and a smiling yellow waitress brought the menu. Ned was still confused, so he was looking through the menu with no idea of what to order. She understood that instantly, so began to recite cheerfully all the specialties, soups of the day and other delicious things a visitor should definitely try here. Ned was very sorry to interrupt her, but he didn’t count the money Goreb had given him. So when the waitress mentioned what a great vegetable stew they have, he smiled and ordered it. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything else?” “Um… well, some water, may be?” “I’ll be right back… sir!” The waitress gave him a wink and galloped to the kitchen. The vegetable stew was really delicious and tasted like at home. But there occurred a sudden problem with water. Ned was used to the Hoofre manner to serve beverages in mugs, so, when the yellow waitress put a glass on the table using her magic, he was surprised. As an earthpony he was not able to use magic, and if he tried to take the glass with his hooves, he would probably spill all the water around. “Shall I bring you a straw or a glass holder?” The white unicorn appeared near. “Um… a straw, please?” Ned answered in a low voice. He was nervous making first gulps, but other visitors paid no attention to him. Ned felt at ease and finished his lunch tranquilly. Having paid the bill, he asked the yellow waitress, if there was a dragon fire post office in town. There was one indeed, but Ned had to ask thrice before he understood how to get there. All those directions like “just turn left and then right, and when you pass the bakery just make a dive into the side street” could drive anypony crazy. But the waitress was patient enough to explain the way, so Ned was not afraid of getting lost. The only thing that worried him was the fact that he lost the sight of the clock tower. But he didn’t suppose that he would waste time at the post, so that should be a very quick visit. Just long enough to write a short letter to fisherponies. Dad always said that at least somepony ashore must be aware that one was going to the sea. And you must always send a message having got safely to your destination, so that those pony waiting could not worry about you anymore. It was nice and thoughtful from a sailor’s side. Ned didn’t tell the fisherponies he was going to try to join the zebra crew… And now they must be really worried, because he didn’t come back that day. It was certainly a good idea to write to them. Ned knew what to do at the post office, he had been there a couple of times with his father. He confidently took a sheet of special paper out of the box. Ponies were supposed to write their letters on them and then to put the paper and the money into another box. Or to give the letter personally to the post-dragon. Ned could write, though his father thought that his writing was incomprehensible and there were lots of mistakes. Moreover there were no pencils at the post office in Uni-Cornwall, Ned had to write with a quill. There were more inkblots than words themselves in the letter, but he didn’t dare to rewrite. No guarantee that there would be less blots, and Ned had not too much free time left. In this case it was better to go directly to the dragon, give him the letter and the money ad name the addressee aloud than to label the scroll in writing. And Ned was the only visitor at the post, so he would not be an obstacle for any other letters to be sent. “To the master of the fisherponies guild of Hoofre then?” The dragon inquired and fiddled with the scroll. “Yes, please. To Rafle Pêche,” Ned watched with fascination the scroll burning in the green flames. The greenish smoke went through a tiny window under the roof curling and twisting on its way to the addressee. “It looks amazing! Can I send a letter to anypony with your help?” “Sure. Except for the dead, of course. But they do not need letters any more, do they?” “Does that mean…” Ned bit his lip. “Does that mean I can learn if a pony is alive by just sending a letter?” “It does,” the dragon answered reluctantly. “But are you really sure that’s what you want? It may be… costly, you know.” “I still have some money left…” whispered Ned. “May be that’ll be enough for a short message? How much it that?” “Five coins a message, as usual.” “But that’s not costly at all?..” “I said nothing about your pony money. I mean, that you might deeply regret your decision in future. Or may be you won’t, who knows. Time will tell.” “I see…” Ned nodded slowly and went back to the hall with blank sheets of paper. Shut his eyes and took one. He could feel this shaggy scroll and the very thought of what he was going to do made him tremble with fear and thrill. The message ended up to be not so short as Ned thought, he had to rewrite it several times, sometimes running the quill through the whole text. At last, having put a dot, he looked through the letter and nodded to himself. He addressed the label very carefully so that no blots spoil the name. And put the letter into a special box. Count five coins carefully to put them nearby and went outside. He didn’t feel ready to see if the letter would fly away or burn to ashes. May be his father had no chance to find a dragon and reply, but it would be highly unjust to go seafaring without even trying to follow his main rule. He definitely must be aware that his son was now making really long voyages. Ned had a strange feeling after visiting the post office. He forgot completely about the time or about the fact that he had to return to Hippotigris. All he wanted was just to get away from this place and may be even never return again. Thinking so, he wandered along one of the streets to a square with a fountain. Ned sat down and splashed some water into his face. He felt better, and then… then the clock on the tower started striking and a dragon-post scroll appeared in front of him. He must have fallen asleep in the square… Ned took the letter with surprise, read ad rushed to the port. He just hoped he remembered the way and would not get lost in this unicorn town. *** “I knew, genius is simplicity!” Mbizi giggled. “You see, we searched the whole town and then came across the post office. First the dragon told us he had seen an earthpony colt looking just like one we were trying to find. And then I got an idea to send you a scroll. As well as to the other searching parties, where are they now, I wonder? They should have returned already! And I hope you didn’t burst into tears because of my silly letter? Well, to tell you the striped truth I was a bit angry with you when I was writing it. I guess it turned out really… passionate. And I am sorry.” Ned smiled and answered that he now felt totally fine. He didn’t tell Mbizi the whole story about the post office, he just said that he wanted the sent a letter to Hoofre. And then he found a fountain, and decided to play, and forgot about time. Just… foalish of him, yes. Mbizi definitely understood that there was much more behind Ned’s words, but didn’t insist on knowing all the details. Just mentioned that it was quite thoughtful to write to the fisherponies. They must have searched the port and Hoofre just like the zebra crew did today. Ned was not sure the fishers were that much worried, but they definitely were upset when he didn’t come home as usual. Mbizi also mentioned that he was not late himself today, even more – he returned before captain and even gathered all the crew on the deck. Cebrastian was surprised with such punctuality, but soon noticed that the straw-colored earthpony was missing. A quick questioning revealed that no one in the crew had a slightest idea where the cabin cot had gone... “What do you mean by saying “no one has seen him since mooring”? Did you just let him ashore all alone?!” “Ceb, he’s not a baby to need a nurse watching over his every step!” Goreb had a reason indeed. Captain had no counter-arguments for such an obvious statement. So he sighed and said dryly: “Do what you want, level this town stone by stone if needed, but I want this blank-flank standing on the deck in front of me before sunset!” First, zebras formed groups of five and Mbizi went with the captain, but after two hours it became evident that they should split if they didn’t want to look for Ned for ages. It was them when captain said he’d tear off one’s ears… “But I was the lucky one, as always!” Mbizi couldn’t help not boasting. “I found you, and I even had a glass of cyder at the tavern where you had had lunch. Smiley Star was much of a help! It’s that yellow waitress of yours. Watch the master, I spent there less time than you, but I know her name! And I’ve never drank cyder in such a posh manner, from a stem glass with a straw… I’m not sure it’s a kind of experience I’d like to make regular, you see what I mean? Hey, look, there’s cap returning! And the others, great!” *** “Mbizi, have you really found him?” Cebrastian voice sounded tired. “Aye, cap, I have!” Mbizi replied from the deck. Cebrastian took a breath of relief and came to the landing brow to get on board. Mbizi watched the heavy measured tread become more of a rest step. It seemed he was not the only lucky one today, even if captain told the cabin colt off, it would not be a severe punishment for him. The latter jumped on his feet to meet the captain. Ned looked guilty and didn’t notice the change of the captain’s mood. He still thought he would be punished. Cebrastian sighed and came closer. “What image did I have in those tales from Hoofre that you are so much afraid of me, I wonder? Let’s take all of these,” he pointed to the apples, “to the galley. I will also put on some tea, I guess that shall make you explain everything to me.” Ned looked at him with such fear in his eyes, that Cebrastian understood – the tales were violent and bloody. “Oh, yeah. Those were words by a master of thought, indeed! Deserve quotation, surely,” Mbizi snorted and took the saucepan with the peeled apples. “Please, blank-flank, pull yourself together, ok? I worked really hard to calm you down and I don’t want all my efforts to go up in smoke because of some zebra who does not think before he opens his mouth.” “I think I missed something… unusual today.” “Oh, no, captain! I was just telling Mbizi my… first impressions from Uni-Cornwall, nothing more!” “Well, if you say so…” Cebrastian did not insist on a detailed response, just took the basket with the rest of the apples and followed Mbizi to the galley. Ned took the bucket with the peelings ready to go to the galley too. Zebra crew gathered slowly on the deck, returning from the town. They were chatting, sometimes throwing glances at the cabin colt. Ned .felt scared again. “We hope you had a good time today! It was much more fun to look for you than for Mbizi when he goes to his favorite tavern, you know. But next time you decide to get lost, please warn at least any of us so that captain won’t be worried to death,” shouted one of the zebra sailors cheerfully. Embarrassed Ned turned around, but zebras were not laughing at him. They really had a good time themselves and were not angry at all. Ned smiled shyly, took the bucket of the apple peels and hurried to the galley following Mbizi and captain. Mbizi was quick enough to cut the apples into large pieces and now was trying to decide what he wanted to cook. On the one side, he wanted to bake them with cottage cheese and cream, on the other, a mash would do as well. Cebrastian put on a kettle and now stood on his hind legs to reach the upper shelves of the cupboard looking for tea. “Mbizi, did you mess everything up here again? Can you tell me, why, by ancestors, there is anything but tea in a box specially labelled “Tea”?” Cebrastian opened another box and sneezed, having found out pepper in it. “Ah. There it is. I guess, it did no harm to tea to place it in a box for cinnamon.” “And where is our cinnamon then?” Mbizi sounded truly surprised to blame him on this little piece of chaos. “Where else can we have cinnamon on board our dearest schooner if not in a box for hot pepper, I wonder?” “Just perfect… I hoped I could make a nice dinner after such a long day… Well then, I’ll make a mash, it will be nice too.” Ned put the bucket with the apple peelings down and stepped back. Cebrastian was doing something with the teapot, he put there some herbs and spices. Then he poured boiling water into the pot and turned round to face the colt. “Mbizi is not really into tea…” “I just can’t get what you all find in this bitter hay brew!” the latter sidelined Cebrastian to put the saucepan on the stove. “But may be you will be so kind to do me a pleasure of having a cup of tea with me?..” Cebrastian finished paying no attention to Mbizi’s words. “But I’ve never tried tea before…” “So much the better. Let’s go to my cabin, shall we? Mbizi gets nervous when someone watches over him at the galley.” “Well, I never interfere with your "mystical rituals" and shamanism over that hay brew, cap, so will you please return me that favor?” Mbizi snorted after them. In the cabin Cebrastian motioned Ned to a seat and went to the shelves with cups and a sugar bowl on a small tray. Ned was standing still at the doors, looking around. Mbizi must have been wrong to say that captain’s cabin as a gloomy place for punishments only. Ned thought it was gorgeous. There was a polished chest, a table cluttered up with maps and pilots, a bed with a knitted cover carelessly thrown on it, books on the shelves, instruments, carved caskets, a lamp… The sunset gave a wonderful orange light, and long shadows decorated the floor and the walls like the spires of Uni-Cornwall decorated the roofs. Light fume curled above the porcelain cups, filling the cabin with odors of tea, mint and cinnamon. “Sit down, please, will you? I’m not going to scold you,” Cebrastian grinned, trying to hide some sort of sorrow in his voice. Ned sat on one of the cushions feeling confused. Captain drew a cup and the sugar bowl nearer to him and silently sat down on the opposite side of the table. He was looking through the window thinking of something deeply personal. Ned put some sugar in his tea, bushing red. He could only think of how not to spill or break anything here… Cebrastian was silent, stirring his tea without making a sound. Ned tried to do the same, but trembling nervously he could not make so fine movements so his spoon was clinking against the cup. Her silver twin-sister got out of time and echoed, and captain as if waken out of trance asked in a low voice: “Tell me, you just got carried away in playing today, please. Make me feel at ease.” “Um, I kinda did… why?” “Good. I was afraid for a moment that you’d decided to leave us without even saying goodbye.” Ned opened his mouth to reassure captain that he would never do such a thing, but remembered his thoughts and said: “Um… you know, captain, I was thinking today if I should stay back… Try to find some… other way in life?” The porcelain cup gave a jolt and some spilt tea left a wet trace on the captain’s hoof. “When following desires that lead you off you way, beware – price is higher than you would like to pay... Don’t copy the mistake a witless zebra once made,” Cebrastian shook his head and smiled before the cabin colt had a chance to reply. “And I am tired of Mbizi’s habit to forget about time. I know he is supposed to be your mentor and you try your best to learn from him, but… There aren’t enough sailors in the crew to look for both of you, so try to be more punctual next time, please!” Ned nodded and took a sip of tea. Cebrastian followed his example, still smiling. They were drinking tea, saying nothing more, thinking of their own experience. Ned was thinking about a very important question – he was not sure if he had put enough tea in his sugar. Cebrastian glanced over the cabin. A small simple wooden casket on the table caught his eye. Captain knew by heart all the things in it. There were several letters, a sketch of a portrait, a silver brooch, tarnished in the course of time, and two pale-blue plywood chips...