To Gilbert’s misfortune, he had arrived at the outdoor theater just as things were ending. On a stage, a theater troupe was gathering up all their props and packing things up while a crowd of ponies left the theater. The theater itself had a concrete floor radiating out from the stage and several tiered rows of concrete benches for ponies to sit on or under for watching whatever was going on at the stage.
“Just my luck, looks like I missed something fun,” Gilbert said. A few families were walking out to either the road or the rest of the park.
Though it probably didn’t have anything to do with the Order, he’d at least be learning what kind of entertainment ponies from the Archipelago liked to put on. If only he had arrived earlier.
Gilbert scratched under his beak, not one to get discouraged so easily he stood on the cement grounds of the theater and watched a bit as the troupe continued to clean up. They were all smiling and happily chatting with each other, looking quite friendly enough to Gilbert’s eyes. From their clothes they were very likely all locals though also definitely not ponies in the Order. So it at least wouldn’t be completely out of the question that they could teach him quite a bit about both the Archipelago and Order.
He nodded and walked up to the stage with a happy grin on his beak. “I say, excuse me but one moment!”
The stallions and mares onstage looked over at him in surprise, wondering who this griffon was. One stallion wearing an elaborate costume of heavy wool robes in garish colors with a pattern of triangles criss-crossing it stepped over to the edge of the stage.
“Yes, can I help you, friend?” He asked.
“Well I’m new to the Archipelago, just visiting really, and I wanted to ask you when you’re putting on your next performance. I’m quite interested to see what sort of plays ponies watch for entertainment around here,” Gilbert said.
“Oh, well...” the stallion abashedly stammered.
“Something wrong?” Gilbert raised an eyebrow.
“The thing is, we’re a traveling group of theater performers and this was our last performance on Blue Coral Island before we went to Red Beach Island. I’m sorry, but you won’t be seeing us perform here again for a long while.”
“Oh… that’s really a shame,” Gilbert sighed.
One of the mares boxing up props whistled to get their attention. “Well hey, if you’ve got any spare time you could just go to Red Beach Island too. It’s a real short trip from here by Manta Ferry and tourists are more than welcome. We’re performing mostly at indoor theaters there so it wouldn’t be hard finding us.”
“That’s true, would it be tough for you to leave Blue Coral Island?” The stallion asked Gilbert.
Gilbert didn’t need two seconds to respond. “Not at all! In fact going to another island sounds wonderful!”
“Great, well whenever you get to Red Beach Island just be on the lookout for our troupe. We’re called the Festival Hoppers! Hope to see you at our next performance,” the stallion said.
“I’m sure you will,” Gilbert smiled.
“You have some of the tensest muscles I’ve worked with, Miss...” the masseuse said as she worked on Daylight Gleam. “Have you been stressed lately?”
“Define lately,” Daylight answered with a grunt as the mare’s hooves dug into her back, trying to break down the knots in her muscles. Daylight had gone for the full stress-relief package and that included a deep tissue massage to really get down into the tension that consumed her whole body.
She had to admit—throwing away her cynicism and grumpiness—that it was nice in here and she had made the right choice. When it came to her own comfort at least. Something she was used to ignoring. But the bed she was currently lying on was soft, the incense wafting through the room smelled great, the light music coming from the old gramophone was relaxing, and the mare giving her her massage was friendly. There wasn’t anything to complain about.
There wasn’t anything to complain about.
That thought more than anything caused a relaxed smile to spread on her face.
And no Rainbow Dash or Gilbert to annoy her. It was just Daylight in her own world right now, getting what she sorely needed. What she sorely deserved.
“Well let me see if I can help you,” the masseuse said and continuously prodded and pushed her hooves along Daylight’s back, rhythmically and relaxingly, working the tense muscles and knots of pain and stress inside her. “Did you come to the Archipelago for relaxation?”
“No,” Daylight groaned as the masseuse unraveled a particularly sore spot. “I guess you could say I came for business… but that’s changed a little and now I’m here.”
“Ah, sounds like you really needed some stress relief. No wonder you chose this massage. I hope whatever business you came here for goes well in the end.”
“Can’t argue with that, I don’t even know how long I’m going to be here now...”
“Hm,” the masseuse thoughtfully hummed as she began to work on Daylight’s back legs, wringing the tension out of them and going down to her sore hooves. “If your business trip has turned into a pleasure trip then I have a recommendation. You certainly seem like a mare who deserves far more care and attention than our small spa can give you.”
Daylight perked up. “I’m listening.”
“If you have the time and the money—you should travel to Orange Horizon Island. It’s the pleasure island of the Sarrarocco Archipelago. The most beautiful island, it’s all one large resort with accommodations and luxuries far beyond what you can find here on Blue Coral Island.”
Daylight thought for a second, still lying down on the bed. “That… you know, just yesterday—just earlier today—I would’ve scoffed at something like that. But right now going somewhere like that doesn’t sound so bad. My friends would be surprised but I’ve decided to live a little while we’re stuck here at the Archipelago.”
“That’s wonderful! You know, I have some friends and business acquaintances on the island, once your massage and spa treatment are over I’ll tell you everything you need to know for planning a perfect trip to Orange Horizon Island,” the masseuse said.
“Thank you,” Daylight smiled, relaxing further, almost enough to fall asleep as the massage continued. “That sounds great...”
“And so you’re saying both of them left messages for us?” Breakwater asked the matron of the Saffron Inn as he and Senax stood in the lobby.
“Yes, I was surprised by the coincidence too. But first your griffon friend came in to leave his message, and about an hour later the unicorn came by as well,” the matron explained.
“What were their messages?” Senax asked.
“Both of them said they were going to another island and weren’t sure when they’d be back. The griffon said he was traveling to Red Beach Island and the unicorn said she was going to Orange Horizon Island.”
Breakwater exhaled. “Well I guess we should be happy that they’re both taking Rainbow Dash’s words to heart.”
“Is it really okay?” Senax wondered.
“It’ll all turn out fine,” Breakwater shrugged. “They know that they’ll need to come back here sooner or later. I’m kind of surprised Daylight left to, but I think it’s good she’s doing her own thing. Gilbert… eh, he’ll be okay. Probably having plenty of fun.”
It was actually the day after they had initially separated after the shrine visit. When Breakwater and Senax had finished having dinner at the Saffron Inn’s restaurant they went back to their room and went to sleep. Only to find upon waking that they were still the only ones there. Daylight and Gilbert had never returned. At first it was startling and both of them naturally thought something bad had happened, but when they went downstairs to leave the Inn and search for their friends the matron had gotten their attention first. Seems they were worried for nothing. Though they were still very surprised at this turn of events.
Since they now knew what was going on, both of them walked out of the Inn much more calmly. It was just as much of a beautiful day as yesterday had been—but now it was just the two of them.
“This is certainly different than how I thought things were going to go here,” Senax said.
“Yeah, me too,” Breakwater nodded.
“What do we do now?”
“Well if everyone else has gone to different islands then maybe we should hold down the fort here. Or if you’re up for it we can go somewhere else too, or just you can and I’ll watch over things here. It’s up to you.”
“Up to me… so much stuff has been left up to me ever since this journey started,” Senax sighed.
“No reason why it shouldn’t be. I’m just the guy who gave you a ship after all,” Breakwater grinned.
“You’ve done far more than that for all of us,” Senax smiled back at him.
“Life was starting to get a little boring just sailing to the same places again and again. You all really spiced things up,” he shrugged.
Senax hummed and walked ahead of him a little bit, the leaves from the trees around the Inn falling to the ground. “I think then… that I’m not ready to leave this island just yet. You can call it me being worried, or nervous, but I’d like to stay here for another day at least. There’s still a lot of Blue Coral Island we haven’t seen, and a lot about the Archipelago and Order I bet we can still learn from here. If we hear about another island to visit and we still haven’t gotten word from the High Priestess? Then I suppose we can hop on a Manta Ferry of our own.”
“So long as they keep the room for us,” Breakwater said.
“I get the feeling they will.”
Breakwater looked at her for a moment, thinking. “Probably right. So any ideas on where you want to go today? We could hit the marketplace just like Daylight did.”
“I like the sound of that,” Senax dipped her head slightly. “We already ate here, I bet there are some nice restaurants in the center of the island. And other things to spend our time doing.”
“Lead the way,” he gestured down Saffron Road leading to the marketplace.
Despite his words the two of them ended up walking side by side as they traveled to the marketplace this early morning on Blue Coral Island. The weather, the season, it was still causing leaves to fall regularly and paint the road an array of colors. While the sun was out all the way it was still a little too early for there to be many others out walking right now. Even when they walked by the various parks and ponds of the island they didn’t see any other ponies. It was just the two of them. The route to the Saffron Inn, and the Inn itself, were a bit out of the way compared to most of the rest of the island.
They didn’t mind at all. It was nice. It was quiet. Getting to spend a walk like this with a close friend was a good thing. It was different than being aboard the Heart of Azure where one of them was almost always busy at the helm. And when there were two much louder and more active friends around. Not to mention that the ocean in general was always moving, and there was always some kind of noise coming from it. Here on an island things were actually still, there was no constant rocking of the boat or the sound of waves breaking against the hull. Breakwater probably liked those things but Senax had to admit the stillness of solid ground under her hooves was preferable. Along with the ability to close your eyes and just hear nothing.
Senax blinked and looked up at the blue sky through the trees. What is Merlantis going to be like?
She had lived her entire life before the Grand Ocean in a small town on dry ground in the mountains. So had every last one of her merpony brethren. What would living in Merlantis be like? Would she ever get used to it?
No, probably not. It should feel right… it should feel natural… but will it ever feel like home? Senax didn’t shake her head because she didn’t want to get Breakwater’s attention, but she banished those thoughts all the same. It’s not just for me or the merponies still alive now. It’s so our children and their children can have the home they were always supposed to have.
With the desire for creating a future for her people in her head, the two of them walked to the marketplace.