High Wind had been delighted to see us when we’d arrived. She’d confirmed that Torque Wrench would look at the Blossom’s stabilizer fin and hull in the morning. To make things even better, the snow was supposed to stop just before dawn. She’d given us an updated weather report and grinned at us as we ascended back to the gangway platform of the Skyport.
Once our supplies were properly stowed away, I checked the clock on the lower deck. We’d probably end up being a few minutes late. I didn’t really care. Minuette and I had both opted to keep our flight suits on. I threw my old and slightly ratty black sweater over mine, while Minuette tossed a new gray-and-blue jacket over herself as we prepared to brave the cold again.
Now, we were ready to venture into the snow—and the falling temperature—to discover what ‘proof’ Snappy and her crew supposedly had. We stopped by the hatch to the main deck to put our boots back on, then hurried out into the cold.
Our breaths fogged as we quickly made our way down the gangplank and to the far side of the platform. There, the To Dream in Colour looked like some sort of magic-infused Hearth’s Warming ornament forged by a mad unicorn mage. Every light on the ship seemed to be glowing cheerfully through the lightly falling snow.
I looked over the ship and frowned. Snappy had said to come to the forward gangplank, but the aft one was near the aft castle and presumably the main hatch. I didn’t exactly want to have this meeting on the ship’s deck in the middle of a snowstorm.
I was about to tell Minuette to head to the aft of the ship with me when Easy Wing swept out of nowhere to land in front of us. Minuette squeaked in surprise and jumped back. He smiled at us, but I just glowered at him.
“What’s the big idea?” I demanded. “Are you trying to scare us off the platform?”
“Sorry about that.” The stallion chuckled dryly—still dressed only in his scarf, because most stupid pegasi were practically immune to cold weather—and shook his head. “Decided I should come meet you. Snappy wanted to leave you out in this for a good fifteen minutes as a test to see how serious you are.”
“Yeah, screw that,” I huffed, my ears flattening as I wish I’d gotten a cap. “If that’s her idea of a warm welcome, we’ll go back to our ship.”
“It might be hers, but it’s not mine,” Easy chuckled again. “Come on, she’s in the ship’s study. I’ll take you down there.”
I eyed him suspiciously, but he seemed to be the only sane one on this ship, so with a glance at Minuette, I shrugged. “Lead the way.”
Easy took the lead, walking down and across the aft gangplank. I followed him, with Minuette right behind me. The moment we stepped on board, I could feel the hum of the engines and the core—no, cores—rattling the deck beneath our hooves.
“What the heck are you doing to your ship?” I called to Easy as we headed past the two secured mainsails. “Your cores sound like they’re about to crack!”
Easy laughed as he made it to the main hatch leading into the interior of the Colour. However, he didn’t answer until we were all inside. He shook the snow off of himself, while Minuette used her magic to brush off both herself and me. Then, as always, she just smiled at me. Oddly, the rattling was much more subdued here.
“Trinket’s playing with the crystal cores again,” Easy said with a shrug and a grin as he gestured for us to take off our winter coats. “Every time we’re in dock she’s trying to make them work better.”
“Trinket?” I said flatly. “The little filly? Are you kidding me? Why would you let a filly play with your engine cores?”
“Because that little filly is what got this ship moving in the first place,” he said with another chuckle while he hung the coats up beside the door. “More or less.”
“What?” Minuette and I said as one.
Easy smirked at the two of us, but it didn’t come across as snide. He seemed more amused than anything else. “Well, do you want a tour of the ship or do you want to see the proof Snappy was blabbing about back at the diner?”
I glanced at Minuette. She actually looked torn between the two options.
“Could we take a raincheck on that tour?” I offered, watching Minuette’s reaction. Thankfully, she nodded in approval. “We’re here to see what you three have.”
“Sounds good.” Easy shrugged. “Shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as long as Snappy doesn’t try and throw you out. And even if she does, I can usually get her to calm down. Well, sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
Easy just laughed it off and led us deeper into the ship. However, I decided to take my time and just see what the so-called ‘competition’ had at their disposal.
This deck of the Colour once appeared to be a large lounge, complete with what had been a cocktail bar on the port side. However, now it seemed to serve as an equipment storage area. Various sets of gear were hung up to one side, everything from swimsuits to high-altitude pressure suits. There were pickaxes, full metal detectors that anypony could use, and even some sort of saw-like contraption I didn’t recognize. There were dozens of crates scattered in piles and stacks everywhere. And on every wall were thick glass-sheeted windows, now showing little more than the flurry of snow being lit by the ship’s external lights.
The only really odd thing were the crystals hanging from the ceiling. I stopped and stared at the large red one. It was cracked down the center, almost like—
Easy must have seen me looking around. “Yeah, yeah, it’s a bit of a mess. But Trinket’s put up the old core crystals and I think those sort of make up for it, you know? Kid’s not exactly the most engaged filly around.”
“These are… core crystals?” I asked, pulling away moments before I would have used my magic on them. “And you have them just hanging from your ceiling?”
Easy shrugged as he wound his way around a large stack of boxes each stamped with the label ‘Griffon Dragoon - Civilian Surplus.’ I didn’t even want to guess how they got griffon military supplies from two centuries ago. Instead of asking, I just trudged past them.
He eventually led us to a stairwell set near the port side of the lounge and glided down. Minuette and I walked down—as if we had any other choice. I hated when pegasi showed off.
“This is Deck Two,” Easy said as he trotted forward through the wood-paneled corridor. “Here’s where our forward lounge is, Snappy’s study, the map room and a few other places where only Trinket goes.”
I was starting to see signs of wear-and-tear. The carpet had several large oil stains on it and the wood panels had cracks running through most of them. However, all the light fixtures looked new. There were even a couple yellow crystal cores hanging from the ceiling.
As a general estimate, we had to be about three-quarters of the way through the ship when Easy stopped, turned, and knocked on a door.
“What?” shouted an all-too-familiar voice from inside. “I’m working!”
“Hey, Snappy,” Easy said, who didn’t even flinch at her screech. “Your new friends are here!”
I heard the sound of pounding hooves and the door was flung open with a flash of light green magic. And there Snappy was, her cream coat mussed and dirty in places. She glowered at the two of us as if she didn’t have a clue who we were. Or maybe she was just glowering at us because we existed.
“Nice to see you again,” Minuette chirped.
“Right,” Snappy muttered. “Proof.”
“That’s what you promised us,” I said with a sidelong glance at Minuette.
She was still smiling.
“Yeah, yeah… okay, let’s get this over with so you can slink back home!” Snappy turned on a hoof and marched back into the room.
“Good luck, you two,” Easy said with a chuckle. “I’ll be in the forward lounge when you’re done if you still want that tour. Front of the ship, just follow this corridor.”
“Thanks, Eas—” Minuette began, only to be cut off by Snappy.
“Can it, Easy!” The mare shouted from inside the dim room. “They’re probably boinking each other already, so don’t get any ideas, because you definitely don’t have enough game to get in on that!”
“W-what?” I sputtered. I felt my cheeks grow hot with a mix of indignation and embarrassment.
I couldn’t even look at Minuette.
“That’s… that’s not true!” Minuette squeaked in a voice about four octaves higher than her usual tone.
“Pay up, Snappy!” Easy said in a sing-song voice. “They’re legit!”
“Screw you,” muttered Snappy’s voice from inside, but a ten-bit coin suddenly shot out between Minuette and me to land right in Easy’s outstretched wing. “And you two, get in here!”
Still reeling from Snappy’s assumption—and apparently, bet—I stumbled inside with Minuette. The room was so dim I couldn’t see a thing at first. It was made even worse when Snappy used her magic to slam the door shut behind us.
Right before I cast a light spell, my eyes started to adjust, revealing red lamps in every corner of the room.
“Oh, right, you probably can’t see,” Snappy said, sounding bored.
I squinted at the direction of her voice, only to yelp when brilliant white light filled the room from recessed lighting in the ceiling.
“Why don’t you warn a mare next time!” I shouted as my eyes watered and I rubbed them furiously. I blinked constantly, trying to get the afterimages to go away.
“Oh, suck it up, you big baby,” Snappy said.
When I finally got my vision back, I found Snappy sitting behind a massive wooden desk covered in books and maps. All sorts of cartography equipment lay scattered over everything, including several other mismatched tables pulled up beside her. She looked like some Daring Do villain plotting the end of the world.
“You want proof?” she demanded in a somewhat ominous tone.
“Yeah, that’s why—”
“I was being dramatic!” she snapped. “But you had to go and ruin it. So, if you really need a reason to go away, here it is.”
With that, she used her magic to pick up the book that had been lying at the very center of her scratched up desk and flung it at me. Without thinking, I snatched it out of the air.
Minuette came up beside me as I lifted it up for us to inspect it.
The book was old, bound in a type of pineapple leather I hadn’t ever seen outside of the RCA Stacks. However, the binding was solid, so whoever had owned it had taken good care of the thing. Age had made the front text hard to read, though.
I squinted and adjusted my glasses, bringing it closer. Minuette squinted beside me, too.
Finally, I lit my own horn. That light managed to be enough to show the embossed letters where gold leaf had once been. Slowly, I read the words aloud.
“Logbook of HMS Valiant Sunrise - Year of Our Princess, 413.”
Minuette sucked in a breath as I adjusted the angle to read the second line of text.
“Commanding Officer: Admiral Sunny Fairweather.”
I gaped and stared at Snappy, who just looked smug.
“You know any dating spells?” Snappy asked, her snide tone like a claw against a chalkboard.
Minuette took a step back, going scarlet again, though I couldn’t figure out why.
“One or two,” I shot back.
“Try them,” she challenged.
“Moony…” Minuette said slowly. “Are you sure that’s… that’s a good idea?”
I ignored her and focused my magic. Dating spells were complex things. I was forced to draw a magic rune around the book as it floated in the air before us. Patterns of pink magic swirled around the book into a solid double-circle with the runes I still remembered from grad school.
“Oh,” Minuette said, letting go of a long breath. “Dating spells. I get it.”
I didn’t know what she was—no. No, she couldn’t have thought it was… no. That was insane.
My distraction almost cost me the spell, but I managed to power it in the nick of time. A surge of pink light swelled out from the book into the circular border of the runes, then flowed into my horn.
“This… this is authentic,” I whispered in awe.
Right now, I held a six-hundred-year-old piece of Equestrian history in my magic. Without thinking, I flipped the book open, dispelling the leftover magical signs with a thought.
“Go to March 8,” Snappy’s snide voice commented.
I didn’t care about her tone. I just did as instructed as Minuette leaned in close to read the logbook.
“‘Ship’s Log, March 8, 413, Admiral Fairweather commanding.’” I licked my lips. The writing had obviously been done by wing and it was a little unsteady, as if the author were injured… or more likely, on a ship in bad weather. “‘Cloudshark spotted six hours north-by-north west of the village of Vanhoover Bay. I suspect they’re en route to their hidden base in the Frozen North. I have no intention of allowing them to get away with another robbery. I’ve requested support from the North Fleet, but they did not arrive in time to assist in the engagement.’”
Snappy let out a low, throaty chuckle as I took a breath. Minuette trembled beside me, though I wasn’t sure exactly why.
“‘We engaged them with two volleys from our long nines as the Cloudshark was coming in for a water landing upon a large round lake I had never before seen. However, the ship is quick as ever, and turned their propellers to full, performing a spiraling ascent that the Valiant—despite her many sterling qualities—could not match. We lost the pirate vessel within the storm clouds above, despite an entire evening of searching on ship and on wing.’”
“That’s almost the same—”
I cut Minuette off with a light kick against her back leg and quickly went back to reading before Snappy could say a word.
“‘All is not lost, though. During one of the enemy’s spirals, Leftenant Sharp Wit managed to anticipate the target’s motion and we unleashed a full broadside upon our nemesis. Lookout reported that the starboard cargo pod had been blown from its mooring and sent crashing toward the western ridge of this odd lake. In addition, a single cannonball tore a great hole in their starboard bow. I am confident that such damage will prevent them from any water landings in the near future. We will continue pursuit of the enemy and retrieve the stolen goods. For the Sun Princess!’”
Before I could go any further, light green magic ripped the book from my hooves.
“Hey!” I protested, trying to grab it back, but Snappy was too quick and stashed it somewhere I couldn’t see, probably in a drawer. “I wasn’t finished!”
“Yes, you were,” Snappy said as she leaned over her desk. “You now see what we have. All you have is a little newspaper clipping. This logbook contains the Valiant Sunrise’s entire hunt for the Cloudshark. Every encounter. Every battle. Down to the final moments. How are you expecting to find this thing when we have this?”
“We have something just as good!” Minuette snapped.
Snappy’s eyebrow shot up. “Is that so? Quid pro quo, then!”
I shot Minuette a warning glare and her ears flattened when she realized what she had just said.
“We…” I thought fast. Considering the level of obsession this mare was showing, I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to storm our ship if she found out about the Waystone. We needed a different story. “We have an account from a junior officer of one of the other ships that joined the Valiant Sunrise.”
“Really, now?” Her eyes narrowed. “What ship?”
I wracked my brain over the legend. While I knew about Fairweather’s ship, I didn’t really know airship disposition during the 3rd Century in Northern Equestria. In fact, that only one of any note was…
“Immortal Dawn,” I answered quickly. “It was the Immortal Dawn.”
Snappy narrowed her eyes even more. “That ship didn’t join the hunt until the third battle. How would there be any information about this battle?”
I almost swore, but managed to keep myself in check. “Transfer of personnel. Some ponies were injured in the second battle. This junior officer ended up chatting with one of the injured ponies in the mess. Or their sickbay. I don’t remember which.”
Hopefully that little act would be enough. Hesitation and confusion over minor details were always a good way to make it seem like you knew what you were talking about. Or at least, that’s what some of the books on spycraft had talked about when I’d been studying them a few years ago as a change of pace.
“Hmph,” she muttered with an exaggerated sniff. “Sounds like you got the second-rate edition. Not worth my time.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, then cursed myself for not keeping that one in. Minuette was staring at me openly, but I tried to ignore her.
“Well, there!” Snappy said with a growl. “You have your proof. And I don’t want you yokels getting in my way! So now that you know you’re hopelessly outclassed, get off my ship, get off this Skydock and stay away from my treasure!”
With that, Snappy huffed again and turned around to stare out the portholes along the bulkhead, still showing little else than snow.
“Let’s go,” I muttered. “I need to think.”
“But…” Minuette looked at me briefly before nodding, seeming a little sad. “Okay.”
We left Snappy’s study—and Snappy was kind enough to slam the door shut behind us with a burst of magic—and found Easy Wing leaning against the wall with a smile.
“So, you survived,” he chuckled. “That gets some good marks from me. The yelling wasn’t all that bad, either. You’re practically BFFs.”
“Hardly,” I spat. “Why is she like a rabid porcupine?”
For just a split second, his smile faltered a little. I saw something behind his easygoing facade, something in his eyes. But it flickered too fast for me to process properly. We weren’t the only ones keeping secrets on this ship.
“That’s just how she is,” he replied with a shrug as he gestured toward the bow of the ship—pointedly away from the main hatch. “She’s… passionate.”
“More like obsessed,” I replied.
“Probably a better word,” he admitted as he hopped over a series of power cords stretching across the deck.
Minuette and I were careful not to trip over the cabling, though I did frown at it as we passed.
We walked in silence for a short time. Several of the overhead lamps were out in this section of the ship, creating a patchy pattern of light wandering through the long corridor. About four doors down from Snappy’s study, the corridor opened up to be about twice as wide as before. There were two staircases leading to the lower deck, along with a rather intricate series of cracked crystal core chandeliers above each staircase. Each one was in a spiral, and these actually had some power left in them as the brief bolts of magenta energy flickering between them indicated.
Once, this room had been a grand entryway into the section beyond. I looked up and caught sight of where a hatch had once been that would have led down a set of stairs to this deck.
Now, like most of the ship, it might look incredible on the outside, but it wasn’t much to look at on the inside. Most of the wood paneling had been ripped up and huge sections of the carpet were gone, leaving only scuffed wooden deck planks behind.
“Those are beautiful,” Minuette whispered as she inspected the chandeliers.
With a smile, she lit her horn and sent a tiny mote of magic into the impromptu crystal array. Instantly, gold magic began to course through the crystals along with the magenta, filling the room with colored light. With a little giggle, she did the same thing to the port-side chandelier.
“There,” Minuette declared. “That should—“
Every light in the section suddenly went out, save for the chandeliers, plunging us into a red-tinted darkness. Minuette let out a squeak of surprise.
Easy Wing—at least, I think it was Easy Wing—groaned and took to the air, though I could barely see him in the startled gloom. “Give me a minute to go talk with—”
“You energized the crystalline matrices,” said a whisper of a voice directly behind me.
I yelped and whirled around to see the listless expression of Trinket mere inches from where I had just stood, her eyes shining in the reflected magenta light of the chandeliers.
“What the heck!” I yelled, holding a hoof to my chest. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
The filly cocked her head to the side. “No.”
That was all she said. ‘No.’
I grumbled under my breath, taking a few long steps away from the filly until I was beside Minuette, who became Trinket’s sole center of attention once more.
“Um… yes?” Minuette offered to the unnerving stare of the strange filly.
“I didn’t think that was possible.” She stepped over and studied the glowing crystals. “Most of these are over thirty years old. The one in the center is sixty-three years old.”
“It’s… it’s a simple enough spell,” Minuette said quietly. “I could show you. But, it might be easier with the lights on.”
“The lights off allow the magical effect to be more visible.”
“They also make this place look downright creepy, Trinket,” Easy said from somewhere to my right. “Help a stallion out?”
Trinket closed her eyes, then a bolt of gray magic flew from her horn, spun around everypony in the room at least once, then shot up into the ceiling. A moment later, the overhead lights flickered back on.
“Better,” I said, with a faint glower at Trinket. “Why’d you have to sneak up on me anyway?”
“I didn’t sneak.”
“She didn’t,” Easy offered, his ears twitching with the awkward air that had descended on most of us. “She’s always been... really quiet when she moves.”
“Creepy,” I muttered to Minuette. “Super creepy.”
“I think she’s adorable,” Minuette proclaimed.
“You would.”
She stuck out her tongue at me.
And I rolled my eyes at her.
“Anyway, I think I was going to show you the loun—” Easy began before a familiar shrill voice cut him off.
“Trinket! Easy! Get in here! Your break is over! We need to go over grid 10x31x12!”
Easy let out a long, low sigh and rubbed his face. “Or... not.”
“What?” I scoffed. “You just come running whenever she screeches?”
Instead of getting defensive—like a normal pony—Easy shrugged. “It’s easier this way. For everypony.”
Trinket had already started back down the corridor toward her sister’s study. With a sigh, Easy followed her.
I glanced at Minuette, who just shrugged at me in return. Then, she followed the other two. I rolled my eyes again and fell into step behind them all.
When we arrived at Snappy’s door, she flung it open before Easy could go for the knob.
“Took you long enough,” she cried, then stopped when she noticed we were there too. “Why are they still on my ship?”
“Because some of us try to be gracious hosts,” Easy said with a faint glare in Snappy’s direction which she took no notice of.
“That’s stupid. Get them out of here. They’ve got a long trip home with their tails between their legs,” she said, expression going sly and snide at the same time.
An evil, cocky little smile appeared on her face.
That little smile was really starting to grate on me. I’d seen it too many times already. Part of me wanted to knock it off her face. Maybe even physically.
Then my eyes slid to Minuette. Snappy’s smile didn’t seem to have any negative impact on her whatsoever. My ears flopped down and Snappy chuckled.
“Whatever,” I grunted, and turned to leave.
“Snappy, you can be a real...” Easy let out a grunt of exasperation. “Trink, will you help your sister for a few minutes?”
“Only if you promise to come back,” she said in that same listless voice.
“I’d never abandon you with her,” Easy swore.
Snappy just sniffed at him.
“I’ll escort you off the ship,” Easy said to the two of us. “Why don’t we go before someone gets even grumpier.”
“I’m not grumpy, I’m dedicated!”
“More like committed,” I muttered under my breath. “As in, ‘should be committed.’”
Easy laughed, much to my surprise. Minuette nudged me in the side, but she was smiling all the same when I looked at her.
We all made our way through the long corridor and into the lounge-turned-storage-area before stopping at the main hatch.
“Okay,” he said with a mostly honest smile. “This is my stop.”
“Why do you put up with her?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Easy burst out laughing again. “If I had a bit for everypony who’d asked me that...”
“You’d be filthy rich,” I guessed.
“I’d be pretty close,” he admitted with a sigh. “Short version? Snappy’s had her eyes on the Cloudshark treasure since we were fillies in Manehattan. She’s descended from the... third officer of the Valiant, I think? And I am a direct relation to Admiral Fairweather herself. We just never had the means until recently to come look for it.”
“And by means you’re talking about this airship,” Minuette guessed.
“Yup!” he replied. “We found her—”
“Easy, stop trying to score with those two lovebirds and get your feathered ass down here!” screeched that wonderful voice.
It seemed like the only thing that could really ruffle this stallion’s feathers was either the concept of Minuette and I being together, or the concept of us being together and him trying to get in on it.
However, since all three of us went scarlet and avoided one another’s eyes, I didn’t get a chance to poke him about it.
“We should... um... probably go,” Minuette squeaked.
“Right!” I said, way too loud.
I nodded to Easy Wing. The rest of the ship might be crazy, but he seemed normal enough. How he survived on this ship, I would probably never know.
After he returned our winter protection to us, I pushed open the hatch, only to find that wind had kicked up, blowing snow right into my face. I yelped and was forced to use my magic to create a flimsy shield to protect my eyes. Minuette did something similar.
I glanced back to see her waving at Easy as he closed the door while Snappy yelled something else.
I shook my head, then trudged through the small drifts of snow on the deck of the To Dream in Colour, leading Minuette to the platform and the Wandering Blossom on the other side.
The heat in my cheeks kept my face warm the entire way back.