Rainbow Dash walked back into her room, having finished her lesson in magic. Learning magic was surprisingly easy, and the spells she wanted unexpectedly simple. She found Pinkie Pie trying to shove her party cannon into a very small suitcase. It seemed to fit. Pinkie looked up when she heard the door close and saw Rainbow looking very befuddled.
"We can't leave without my party cannon silly! Otherwise we won't be able to throw parties! Can you imagine? Life without parties! It would be horrible!"
"Umm, sure Pinks, where's Fluttershy?" It was at this point that Pinkie noticed something wrong with Rainbow, but she couldn't place her hoof on what it was.
"She's sleeping, she said that we should get a bit of rest in before we go."
"Ok, good idea, are you guys almost done packing your things?"
"Almost!" Pinkie chimed "What about you Dashie? You still need to pack your things."
"Yeh, I'm not really planning on taking anything, a few pillows and blankets maybe, but that's it."
"What? No games, or clothes? Or Books? Cupcakes?" Rainbow Dash smiled and shook her head
"Pinkie, I'm not bringing cupcakes, that's your job, isn't it? And, why would I bring clothes? It's not like I ever wear them willingly, and games? What games do I own? Mother thinks that it's not proper for a princess to play games, and I am bringing a book or two, actually, to help with my magic, I asked Shining for a magic lesson, so I can learn some disguise spells." That's when Pinkie realised what it was that was different. Rainbow no longer had her horn.
"Dashie! You've lost your horn!"
"I haven't lost it Pinks, it's still there, I've just got a 'hidden' spell on it, I think that's what Shining said it was called. It means no-one can see it."
"Oooh."
From the attached room-the one Pinkie and Fluttershy slept in-the two mares heard the sound of their friend waking up.
"Hey Fluttershy!" Rainbow called, she got a half-muffled 'hey' in response. Half a minute later, Fluttershy walked out of the room, her mane looked brushed, but still rough and her eyes were only half open. Yawning, she rubbed a hoof over one of them.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash...did you get a new manecut?" Fluttershy narrowed her eyes blearily, a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to figure out what was different about her friend
"Nope, I just had Shining armor teach me a few disguise spells to hide my horn."
"But I thought you didn't want magic?"
"I didn't want the horn, to be an alicorn. Magic's cool an' all, but, being an alicorn means that I've gotta rule Equestria someday, and that's not something I want. Besides, if we snuck out with an alicorn, of all things, there'd be no way we'd get even to the gates of the courtyard!"
"I suppose, but, even without your horn, wont the guards notice your mane? And your cutie mark?"
"I got a few spells for those too, but I'll put them on later, for now, we gotta finish packing."
It was late when Rarity, Twilight and Applejack finally returned to the ship, and they were all fairly tired. Despite this, Rarity still trotted up the gangplank with her head held high and a smile painted onto her face. She held a single bag in her magic, which she floated just above her head. Twilight followed after her, a slightly smaller smile on her face, and looking ready to snuggle into her hammock with one of the multiple books she was currently floating beside her own head. Applejack trudged after them, an exhausted frown upon her face, as she carried, on her back, several rolls of fabric which Rarity would eventually use to make curtains for her room. In her mouth, Applejack also held several heavy bags of shopping, all of which belonged to her Captain, who was far too lady-like to bother carrying them herself.
As soon as they were all on deck, Applejack spat the bags to the ground, and dropped the fabric unceremoniously.
"Applejack! Be careful with that! I don't want you ripping up my fabric not hours after I've bought it!" Rarity shrieked, Applejack rolled her eyes and grumbled a bit before replying,
"Sorry, Capp'n, but Ah'm a mite tired, an wus hopin' ya could le' me go ta bed now?" Her voice was sluggish and carried a yawn with it, mostly to prove her point. Rarity turned to look at Applejack for the first time since exiting the last shop, and was surprised to see how disheveled she looked.
"My Goodness! Applejack! I'm ever so sorry, of course you can go to bed, but be a dear and brush your mane before you do, alright?" She apologised,
Applejack chuckled, "Thanks, Capp'n." Then she trotted off to the stairs down into the lower deck.
Twilight turned to Rarity,
"I'll check with Wooden, to see if he's finished. I take it you want to depart in the morning?"
"If possible, Twilight, yes. You are the navigator, I'll let you see to that."
"Right, so, where did you want to head?"
"I recently picked up some news about another artifact, I hear that it's located in the sea of Kindness, about 7 nautical miles off the coast of Neighgeria. It's called the Heartless amulet. It was apparently made a few thousand years ago, by some ancient tribe apparently, and evidence found in the remains of that tribe, shows that they had some knowledge of boats, and lost one of them, with the artifact in what appeared to be a storm."
"I think I've heard of that before. I heard that it was a Zebra tribe who made it, and it had been cursed by a witch as punishment for banishing her from the tribe. That's why they were getting rid of it, because anyone who wore it would die, usually by their hearts bur...umm, you get the idea."
Rarity looked mildly horrified at that, but it soon passed and she composed herself.
"Right, well, you check with Wooden, pay him if he's finished and then we can leave in the morning, setting a course for the sea of Kindness."