Months later...
“She’s yours, now,” the Admiral told the Captain. “...Take good care of her.”
The Captain sat down in the Admiral’s old chair on the Algol’s Shadow. “I’ll do my best, Admiral. Though giving an old coot like me…”
“There’s no one more deserving,” the Admiral insisted.
“Statistically speaking…” Orange began from his post.
“Orange, since I am no longer your commanding officer, I can tell you this without fear of repercussion or misrepresentation. Shut your big fat mouth and go get a marefriend, you need one.”
Orange was stunned into silence.
The Admiral returned her original conversation. “Treat her… as you always have.”
The Captain saluted, a gesture the Admiral returned with a beaming smile.
“I’ll miss you.”
“With any luck I’ll be back.”
The Captain scratched his gray beard. “And how long will that take?”
“I… don’t know. But don’t you give up on me, old horse.”
“Not plannin’ on it.”
With a curt nod, the Admiral left the bridge of the Algol, stopping only when she got to the airlock. Granite was waiting for her.
“Still want to come?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Admiral,” Granite said, grinning cockily.
“Then let’s go.”
They set out in their suits, coming to rest on Sanctaphrax’s elevator. They rode the way up the chain in relative silence, taking a moment to appreciate the day around them. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun was warm on the eastern horizon.
They entered Sanctaphrax not to be greeted by a crew for handling artifacts, but only one pony.
“High Academe Vespid,” the Admiral said. “This is Granite, my adventurer.”
Vespid grinned. All four of her legs had metal braces—they had never quite healed properly—but her smile was vibrant. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
Granite bowed overzealously. “Of course you have. What did they tell you? The time I saved us all from that three-headed shark?”
Vespid snorted. “Yes. That. And how stupid you are.”
“Wh…”
“A stallion of few, very particular talents.” Vespid led them over to the next elevator, clanking with every last one of her steps. “You’re a good part of this crazy, crazy team.”
“We try,” the Admiral said, grinning.
“Officially, I have to say I’m sad to see you go. Off the record? Good riddance, you all brought more trouble to Sanctaphrax than anything we’ve ever seen.”
“I didn’t do nothing,” Granite said, shaking his head rapidly.
“Yes. You are correct,” Vespid smirked.
“...Wait, what?”
“The reports of your intelligence were not exaggerated, I see.” Ignoring his sputtered gasps, Vespid turned to the Admiral. “Meteor’s working for Baltimare now.”
The Admiral frowned. “Getting rid of him didn’t really stop him then…”
“It was a long shot anyway.”
“How’s the status of Equestria?”
“From what I know, the islands aren’t busy blowing each other up, if that’s what you mean. I have my doubts it’ll stay that way, but your actions did keep us from having to deal with a Baltimare Empire, so there’s that. And I mean your actions with the rockets, not the whole Luna thing.”
The Admiral nodded, having nothing further to say. They reached the top of the elevator, appearing in the middle of Sanctaphrax. The street was cleared for them to walk all the way to the eastern airship dock, where a masterful ship stood. Made of a brushed white metal with wiry brass trim, from a distance it might have been confused for a living creature rather than an artificial airship. Windows dotted the lower sections, ponies bustling about within in preparation for launch. Along the side, in stylized letters, was its name.
Starjammer.
“It really does match you,” Vespid commented.
“And this city fits you.” The Admiral turned to Vespid.
“I just do my job.”
“You’re the only one who really did. Everyone else I trusted had a pathological case of forgetting where they came from. Who they were.”
“Admiral, you can’t start buttering me up when you’re about to leave.”
“That’s the only time I can. I won’t be here to see it go to your head.”
“Fair enough. Enjoy your voyage. Please stay out a long, long time.”
The Admiral chuckled, walking down the dock with Granite, leaving the High Academe behind. She stopped at the ramp connecting the Starjammer with the dock itself.
Sparkler was waiting at the door, her hair done up like some kind of crown.
“Look who finally decided to show up,” Sparkler snarked. “Welcome to your ship, Admiral. Does it tickle your fancy?”
As she walked up the ramp, the Admiral extended a wing to feel the smooth frames of the doorway. “For now, it’ll work.”
“It’ll work!?” Granite sputtered. “This place is amazing! I can’t even begin to think about what kinds of things we’ll find with this…”
“Nopony knows,” the Admiral said.
“I’m hoping for dragons,” Sparkler added.
“I’m not.” The Admiral shivered. “I’d like to keep this ship, thank you…”
“HEY! HEY! WAIT UP! V.I.P., COMING THROUGH!”
Sparkler tensed. “Oh no…”
None other than Hailing Fog stumbled onto the docks, dragging two suitcases behind her with her magic. She wore two pairs of comical sunglasses and a white wizard hat that went well with her silky wave-patterned robes.
“You can’t leave without your tourist!” Fog declared, marching onto the Starjammer like she owned the place. “What would you do without me? How would you even know what the really cool things were? You’d be totally lost, admit it.”
“...Do you have your magic books with you?” the Admiral asked.
Fog sighed, lifting both her sunglasses up in her telekinesis. “Yes, they’re right here. But if you want any snazzy poppy spells from little-miss ‘adaptable cutie mark learning by the seat of her pants’, I’ll need lots of meditation time. There better be a spa on this boat, and if there isn’t, I’m creating one.”
“Pretty sure there weren't spas in the Baltimare mines.”
“And you bats don’t hang from the ceiling, point?”
The Admiral said nothing.
Sparkler took the Admiral aside. “You can’t be thinking of letting her stay…”
“I already agreed to it,” the Admiral said. “Told you last night.”
“I must have blocked such a terrible memory. Or thought it was a nightmare. Or both.”
“She has skills and she hasn’t worked with Baltimare since she interfered with the rockets, you know this.”
“She’s still unbearable.”
“I have a teddy bear for you, Sparkler!” Fog called, pulling the stuffed animal out of a suitcase.
“Were you just waiting to use that!?”
“Yes. A grand total of… ten minutes, since I packed it. You really do make this too easy.”
“Golly, you think so too?” a scratchy, but somehow still adorable voice called.
“Rook!” Fog dropped her suitcases and pulled the seapony into a hug. These days, Rook looked a little like her old self. Cozy had been convinced that keeping all the battle scars and tissue damage had been a little silly, especially considering how she could rewrite their body over time. She still had two hooves and a tail, but they weren’t as jagged or predatory. Her eyes still had blood on the rims and her teeth were still sharp, but her mane was full, her fins were beautiful, and she had a voice box and lungs again. She still needed water to survive, but she could leave for extended periods without too many negative effects. On her back two fins were starting to take the shape of wings once again, but this was a much larger development project that wasn’t anywhere close to completion.
“Why must we engage in frivolous hugs?” Cozy asked, her voice coming out distinctly deeper than Rook’s.
“Because I like them, shush, Fog and I are having a moment,” Rook chided.
Cozy grumbled.
“I said shush.”
The Admiral looked at her crew. Sparkler, Granite, Rook, Cozy, Fog…
She had known some of them for years. Some of them had bad blood between them. One of them was literally a cursed being of darkness living in the body of a sociopath. It was far from the standard crew manifest.
Which was exactly the way the Admiral wanted it.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” the Admiral said, walking to the bridge. There, looking out over the world below with a huge window, was a proper, wooden steering wheel. She grabbed it with her wings. “Are we ready to set off?”
“We’ve been ready to set off for an hour, you just had to be sentimental and spend forever on the Algol.”
“I think I liked you better when you were mute,” Granite commented.
“What you see is what you get, numbskull.”
Granite pursed his lips. “Is today the ‘mock Granite’ day, or something?”
Fog gasped. “I’m marking it on the calendar, we’ll celebrate it every year!”
Sparkler facepalmed with her hair.
The Admiral grinned. “Let’s just… get going.”
“Where?” Rook asked.
“East. To the Mainland. Time to see what’s there.”
And with that, she pulled a lever, putting the Starjammer into gear. It drifted forward, away from Sanctaphrax… and into the rising sun. The ocean sparkled below and the blue sky welcomed them to unknown lands.
The Admiral, for a moment, looked up. It was morning, so it wasn’t surprising that no stars were visible, but the fact struck her nonetheless.
The islands of Equestria were still developing their rockets to probe the skies above and threaten each other, but… she wasn’t a part of that anymore. She was forging her own path now, to the unknown lands on the other side of the planet.
She didn’t need to ride a rocket away from this world.
There were things out there that didn’t require sailing on a sea of stars.