Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure exactly when she had accidentally fallen asleep in the hammock, but her peaceful rest (and loud snoring) were soon interrupted by the pain of something sharp poking into her side. Her eyes snapped open and her pupils turned to see Gilbert standing right next to her hammock, poking away at her with one of his talons.
He smiled as soon as he noticed she had woken up. “Oh! You’re awake!”
“Yeah. I’m awake,” Rainbow Dash glared at him.
“Daylight and I got back just a few minutes ago and we’re all getting ready for dinner. They asked me to see if you wanted to come down?” Gilbert said.
“Yeah—yeah, give me a second,” Rainbow Dash said as she sat up in her hammock and rubbed her face, blinking and trying to get the sleep out. “Could’ve just called up for me...”
“Well I didn’t want to startle you.”
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “Thank you for being so thoughtful.”
“You’re welcome! Now let’s have some dinner!” He beamed.
Rainbow was beginning to understand Daylight’s complete lack of patience with their griffon friend.
“Senax and Ballast have cooked up some delicious porridge,” Gilbert continued to say as he turned around and jumped off the loft, gliding to the shop’s floor below.
“Sounds good...” Rainbow Dash yawned once and followed him down. Once she landed on the metal floor she looked and saw that everybody else was already gathered over in the office space, one of Ballast’s desks transformed into a temporary dinner table. Six bowls of porridge were already out and two open seats remained for her and Gilbert.
“We haven’t started eating yet. We were waiting for you,” Senax said to her and smiled.
“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash smiled and quickly took her seat with Gilbert, right next to Daylight. The porridge was pretty simple looking but it smelled great.
“One last meal tonight and then I’ll see you all off tomorrow morning,” Ballast said. “Because it’s any guess as to when I might see you again after that.”
“Could be a long time… or not at all,” Daylight nodded.
“So let’s eat while we can,” Breakwater said and scooped up a spoonful of porridge.
“Amen to that,” Rainbow Dash agreed and started eating as well.
“Righto!” Gilbert cheered. He brought his spoon down (and his face) and started shoveling in as much porridge as quickly as possible. Upon noticing the raised eyebrow from Rainbow Dash he chuckled in embarrassment. “Living for years in the frozen wilds north of Griffonstone did a number on my table manners...”
“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and looked over at Daylight as the unicorn quietly ate her own porridge. “So what did you need to go buy anyways?”
Daylight looked up at her. “Just a few normal extra supplies for making sure we’re prepared for any emergencies. Nails, rope, tar, medicine, sail repair kit. And a new compass after someone accidentally dropped the last one into the ocean.”
Gilbert whistled innocently.
“Makes sense,” Rainbow said.
“Meanwhile I’ve got everything else safely secured onboard and Ballast and I have been looking over the ship and fixing up any little issues while we’ve been docked here,” Breakwater said. “We were ready to leave today.”
“It’s fine,” Daylight said. “I think getting a new crew member is worth waiting an extra day.”
“Especially one as charming and capable as Rainbow Dash!” Gilbert clapped her on the back.
“Thanks...” Rainbow said to him.
Breakwater shrugged. “I suppose. Considering what we’ve gotten into already we can probably use another set of hooves, and wings.”
Rainbow nodded and went back to eating dinner. She had had a big breakfast but it was always nice to get something to eat. After going through a couple of moments in her journey without having anything to eat for several days at a time, any day like this was nice. Seemed Gilbert understood that too. Senax ate probably the slowest out of all of them, seeming conscious about not wanting to get any porridge on her face.
Eating like this with some new friends was pretty heartwarming in a way. She hadn’t really done it since Vissidia. She wasn’t being rushed out the door after eating either. It gave her a good feeling for what would come next in her journey.
“Once we finish eating I think we should turn in for the night,” Senax said. “We’re going to need to get up very early to prepare for leaving port. And we want to be on the ocean right as dawn breaks in the first place.”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “I don’t mind getting right back to sleep...”
“And I’m sure you’re looking forward to getting to really see the Grand Ocean for the first time,” Daylight smirked.
“Oh yeah, I really want to get out there,” Rainbow smiled.
“I can’t wait for you to join us out there, you’ll love it!” Gilbert said.
“So let’s finish eating then,” Breakwater said and scowled at the loud griffon.
“Heh,” Rainbow Dash chuckled and dipped her spoon into the porridge once more.
An hour before even the crack of dawn and Rainbow Dash was woken up again. This time though it was simply by the gentle prodding of Daylight Gleam. Truth be told, Rainbow could’ve used a couple more hours of sleep, but she was excited enough to get out there on the ocean to quickly blink away her exhaustion. The others up in the loft were already wide awake and getting ready to head down to the ship. Rainbow looked below and saw both Ballast and Breakwater already preparing to send the ship off.
She looked over at Daylight Gleam and her sunrise Cutie Mark. “You an early riser?”
“Yes. Why?” Daylight raised an eyebrow.
“No reason,” Rainbow smirked and flew off the loft to join the stallions below.
“We ready to go?” She asked the two of them.
“Just about,” Ballast said. “I’ve been giving the ship one last once-over to make sure I haven’t missed anything, then we can open up the doors, untie her, and you’ll be off.”
“And I can welcome you aboard Heart of Azure for real,” Breakwater said.
Rainbow Dash looked over at Breakwater’s sloop. Now she had a name for it too. He obviously loved that ship and took a great deal of care in maintaining it. The paint job looked fresh, she saw no cracks in the wood, it looked pristine even though by all accounts he had been sailing for a long time. That’s what she would be traveling on with her new friends for the near future. She didn’t know much about sailing or ships in general—but she knew she was in good hooves if her captain cared this much about his vessel.
Gilbert flew down and joined her while Senax and Daylight also climbed down.
“Alright, Senax and I will check the hold to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything,” Daylight said. “Gilbert… just stand there and don’t break anything.”
“Can do!” The griffon saluted.
“And Rainbow Dash...” Daylight blinked and glanced over at Breakwater. “Do you have anything for her to check before we get out of here?”
“If she wants she can check the crow’s nest and be the one to unfurl the sail when we’re ready to leave,” Breakwater shrugged. “Once we get out on the ocean I can teach her a bit more about sailing.”
Daylight shot a questioning glance to Rainbow. “Sound good to you?”
Rainbow Dash looked up at the crow’s nest atop the mast. “I think if I’m not just flying on my own anyways I’d probably like to be up at the highest spot, yeah.”
“Go on then. We’ve got just a little bit left to do and then we can finally get out of here,” Breakwater said.
“No problem,” Rainbow Dash said and quickly flew up to the crow’s nest. Checking it out, it would’ve been big enough for her to sleep inside it if she wanted to. But most night’s would probably be too cold for something like that. There was also a spyglass on the inside of it, the cylinder held in place by a hook that you could click the spyglass into when you weren’t using it. Naturally Rainbow grabbed it to see how good it was, pulling it off the hook and letting the bottom telescope out before taking a quick look through it. Her eyes were already top-tier but with this she’d be an even better scout up in the skies.
Since she didn’t want to pull a Gilbert she put the spyglass back and waved down to the others. “Everything’s good up here!”
“Alright! You just wait a minute for the rest of us and I’ll tell you how to let the sails down!” Breakwater called up to her.
Daylight Gleam and Senax then hopped up on a wooden plank that was stretched from the dock to the back railing of she ship. They easily walked across it and got aboard the Heart of Azure. An open hatch on the deck near the middle of the ship waited for them and the two walked down inside of it to check their supplies. Meanwhile Gilbert stayed right where he was for the moment.
“I guess I’ll go and open the doors then,” Ballast said and walked over to the side of the building. Along the wall was a large wheel that several chains fed into, chains that stretched across the wall and to the two doors that blocked off the interior of the building from the rest of the harbor. Ballast didn’t need to turn the wheel himself, a simple lever next to it was all that needed to be pulled and the wheel turned automatically, pulling the chains back and opening up the doors.
Beyond them, the rest of the harbor and all the docks appeared, still cold and almost dark with only the barest hints of morning sunlight breaking through the clouds.
Rainbow Dash now watched from her perch as Captain Breakwater also got aboard and stood at the ship’s wheel. Shortly after, Daylight and Senax came back out of the hold and closed the hatch up.
“We’re all good here,” Daylight said to Breakwater.
The captain nodded. “Good. Ballast? Come over here now and take this board away and untie us.”
“On it,” Ballast said and walked away from his door controls, first taking the board and pulling it away, dropping it onto the metal dock, and then working on untying the rope from the cleat.
Standing in the crow’s nest, Rainbow Dash could feel the slight rocking and bobbing of the boat in the calm harbor waters. Even with it tied and anchored down it still moved like this. She wondered what it would be like out in the open ocean. Ballast soon finished untying the rope and he tossed the end up to Breakwater, who grabbed it and pulled the whole length over the railing and onto the deck.
Breakwater whistled to Gilbert. “Alright, Gilbert! Get over here now and help Daylight pull up the anchor!”
The griffon smiled and flew over to land on the deck of the boat, right by the heavy chain of the anchor that was currently tossed over the side. Daylight joined him with a smirk and her horn lit up in a powder blue aura. With his muscles and her magic, the two of them worked together to foist the heavy metal object out of the water. Rainbow Dash could feel the ship getting ready to move all on its own the more the chain came up until finally the big anchor at the end of it was pulled over and dropped onto the deck. Carefully dropped. It was obvious by the way Daylight and Gilbert behaved that they had probably accidentally cracked the wood a couple of times.
Then without even Rainbow Dash having to let the sails down and blow some wind into them, the Heart of Azure started to drift forward, carried by the current. With Breakwater behind the wheel he guided it gently and kept it straight as the bow broke past the formerly closed doors and they started to leave Ballast’s shop behind.
“Bon voyage!” Ballast shouted to them, waving from the metal dock.
“Bye!” Rainbow Dash waved right back.
“Goodbye!” Daylight and the others also waved from the stern, all four of them together down there with Rainbow Dash in the crow’s nest.
Slowly the boat left Ballast’s personal dock behind entirely, exiting the building and reaching the open harbor. Ballast gave one last wave before Rainbow saw him going back over to the wheel and preparing to close up.
“How are you doing up there, Rainbow Dash?” Senax called out to her.
Rainbow Dash looked down and grinned. “Doing great!”
“Why don’t you take a first look at the ocean ahead while we get out of the harbor?” Breakwater suggested. “After that I’ll tell you how to drop the sail.”
“Well I’ve already looked at it before but I guess it’ll be different like this. Since now I’m actually sailing on it. Now I’m actually… now I’m actually taking the first step on the next part of my journey,” Rainbow said and turned around to look out the other side of the crow’s nest. Out past the bowsprit of the ship as it quickly drifted its way past the docks and other anchored ships.
Dawn was breaking through the clouds and over the deep ocean water. The light was just starting to reflect and shine on the surface of the ocean, Rainbow was hardly a poet but it still made for a beautiful sight out there.
The ocean was so big, so expansive, the wonder and adventure it held was almost making her shake in anticipation.
“You can drop the sails now! See the four square knots up there on the yard?” Breakwater said to her, having to raise his voice a bit more now that the sounds from the docks around them weren’t being blocked out.
Rainbow Dash blinked and looked down at him in confusion. “Yard?”
“The other beam of wood up there on the mast! The one going horizontal!” Breakwater explained.
“Ohhhh,” Rainbow Dash nodded in realization and flew out of the crow’s nest. One by one she undid each knot on the long bar of wood.
“Now the center one below the crow’s nest!” Breakwater shouted.
“Right!” Rainbow saluted and went over it. It was bigger than the other knots but all it took was one swift pull and it came undone.
The sail then fell down and opened up, a large white canvas expanding over the mast of the ship. Rainbow Dash grinned as a breeze from behind them already caught it and they started to sail faster over the waters. They broke out from the last of the longer reaching docks of the pier, made it farther out than the rock with the lighthouse built on it, and truly now reached the open ocean. A slight bump came as they hit their first small wave but the Heart of Azure with Breakwater at the helm continued straight and true. In the corner of her eyes she could see the last vestiges of Malkonrik’s port disappearing. If she kept her face facing forward all she saw now was the deep blue Grand Ocean.
“And we’re off!” Gilbert cheered from below.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Yes we are.”
Through the peering eye of a long spyglass, a pegasus atop a building at the port of Malkonrik watched the Heart of Azure as it left port. He could clearly see everyone on the ship, including the new rainbow pegasus he hadn’t heard about from his captain. Didn’t matter. The captain only cared about knowing when they—his quarry that others in the crew were starting to say he was practically obsessed with—were setting sail and going back onto the ocean.
The pegasus let out a sigh of relief knowing now that his job was done and he didn’t have to stay up here in the cold anymore. He closed up the spyglass and tossed it into his bag before spreading his wings and flying away. The ship he was crew on wasn’t docked in the main port so he had a fair distance to travel.
They couldn’t dock there and let others see them after all. Not with the black sails and Jolly Roger they flew.