Big Mac awoke in the hotel room that he and his cousin had rented.
With his dream fresh in his mind, Big Mac began to dig through his belongings, realizing several things. One was that he had, and brought, a ridiculous amount of clothes, that he never wore; and two, that he had forgotten his Dream Journal at the farm house.
With disappointment, he resigned to repeating the same dream every night until he could write it down. He donned his yoke, and shoved his cousin out of the other bed, and calling, “Hurry up, Braeburn. We gotta git to the rodeo early ta set up the stand.”
This was greeted with pained groaning from the vested stallion on the floor.
That same morning, Rainbow Dash awoke clutching her book to her chest, laying in a weird position on her bed. She stood up, popping her stiff joints and limbering up for her morning training session.
She hadn’t been scheduled to work that day, so she had the morning to herself.
She spend the morning practicing her stunts and the routine that she had peen preparing for Wonderbolts tryouts. She was getting close to the point of perfection, almost to where she would try out and blow the judges all away. If she could perfect this routine, there was no way that they could turn her down.
After her morning practice session was over, she showered down, grabbed the journal and took off to find a cloud to read on.
As she settled down on a puffy little cloud over Sweet Apple Acres, the perfect size and softness for her liking, she pulled out her spoils, and began to read the second chapter.
The train ride was boring, and uneventful. Nopony talked, and most slept.
After a few hours of the jostling ride and napping, I arrived in Canterlot for the first layover stop. While there I had my peg-leg refitted, and withdrew the remnants of my bank account, locking it in a wooden chest. I also purchased a cape and three point hat, to hide my true identity, as well as accompany my new occupation.
“Why would he want to hide his identity?” Rainbow muttered, “And what the heck is the cape for?”
She relocated her spot on the page and picked up her reading.
Once again, I boarded the train, my money-filled wooden chest tossed up on the shelf above the seats, and I settled in to my seat on the train, pulling my new hat down over my eyes.
After a few other stops I finally arrived at the station nearest my ship. I hurried to the port where my ship was, to do some examinations.
While I was there, I met a pony. He was a strange, salty old stallion. I met him because, for some reason, he was swabbing the deck of my ship.
“Uh, ‘scuse me, pard’ner, but what the hay are ya doin’?” I demanded of the green-maned, tan stallion, with what appeared to be an empty bottle for a cutie mark.
“Ugh,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “There’s the accent, again.”
“Oy!” the grizzled old pony shouted, looking up my way, lifting an eyepatch off of one of his eyes to get a better look at me. “I be cleanin’ the ship fer the new owner.”
“Why?” It was a bit creepy, I hadn’t ordered a cleaning or anything.
“I be swabbin’ the decks, with hopes that the new cap’n will hire me fer his crew.” The crusty stallion said, hanging his head. “Ya see, I were the cabin boy under tha old cap’n, an’ when he sold it, I was out of a job.”
I saw how desperate the old guy was, so I decided to help him out. “Alright, yer hired. Ah need somepony who knows their way around the ship.”
“Ye be the new cap‘n? An’ yer hirin’ me?”
“Eeeyup.”
“Ah, there it is.” Rainbow said with a nod. “That is definitely AJ’s brother.”
“Ye don’t sound like ye be a sailor...” He said, eyeing me up, as though he didn’t trust me.
“Ah ain’t. Ah’m a farmer, but mah injury made me quit.” I said, shaking my fake leg for emphasis. “I’m takin’ to the seas ta git away from everythin’ that reminded me of tha life I used to live...” as I finished, I stared into space.
Then I continued, “So, yer hired.” I tossed the clumsy old earth pony a few bits an said, “Now, show me ‘round the ship.”
He stared at the money in his hooves like it was the prettiest thing he ever saw, then turned to face me, his eyepatch falling back into place over his eye, before he saluted me and said, “Aye aye, Cap’n!”
The pony stumbled around the ship for a few hours, showing me the ‘in’s and ‘out’s of the entire vessel. I picked up the keys to my cabin, dropping off my chest, and walked the gangplank with my first crew member.
“What’s yer name, sailor?” I asked, realizing that we hadn’t exchanged pleasantries.
“Grog.” He said with an unreadable expression.
“Grog?”
“Aye...”
“The sailor’s name is ‘Grog’?” Rainbow said, raising an eyebrow, “That seems a bit rude...”
“Well, Grog, mah name is Macintosh.” Then I realized my biggest dilemma, “Do ya know where Ah could git’ a crew?”
“Foller’ me, Cap’n, I know the best pub in town.” Grog slurred, “Best ale, an’ plenty o’ ponies lookin’ fer work.”
I nodded my approval, gesturing for him to lead the way. As we walked through town I could feel the judgmental glances of passing ponies. Apparently, my crew had already made a name for himself in town, and it wasn’t a good one. Also my peg-leg, covered by my cape, caused my stride to be a bit off, and was drawing unwanted attention.
No matter what ponies thought of me, I was determined to keep my head held high, and my stature impressive. As far as I could tell, it worked. Ponies would give me space, mares would stare as I passed, but I didn’t care, it was no different than back home.
“Well, that at least kind-of explains the cape.” Rainbow mumbled. “But why doesn’t he care about the mares staring at him? I would think that he would love that... Maybe he explains a bit more as he goes on."
Eventually we arrived at the pub he had mentioned, it was called The Singing Seahorse, and it was full of all sorts of ponies and other creatures, all of which drinking their ale and having their fun. Almost immediately, my crew took off for the bar at the other end of the room, drawing glares from the other patrons.
"Is he determined to make this 'Grog' guy look bad?" Rainbow asked herself. "'Cause he seems to be kind of rude towards him."
Then she thought for a moment and realized that, however improbable it seemed, it was still a dream; and as such his brain was making these decisions unconsciously.
I immediately felt out of place, I had only ever been in an establishment like this to drop off cider, and even then I felt judged and like I was among ponies that weren't like me. Now I realized that I was starting to become like these ponies, I was becoming a sailor.
With a quick shake of my head, I continued up to the bar, removed my cape, and sat down. The tender then trotted up to me and asked, "What'll ya have?”
“Do y’all got any cider here?” One last taste of home before I left couldn’t hurt.
“Sure do,” The bartender replied, picking up and polishing a glass, “It’s non-alcoholic, but it is the best cider in Equestria.”
I just smiled and said, “I’ll be the judge of that.”
I could sense his confusion at that, and as he started for the barrels on the wall, he spotted my, now uncovered cutie mark, and nodded.
He put the glass that he had been polishing under a specific keg and began to pour. As he did his job, my thoughts began to wander. I thought about the past I was leaving behind, the predicament I was in now, and the future that was to come. I began to wonder what I would do, where I would go, how I would do it.
I was called out of my musings by the bartender returning with my glass of cider. I passed him the bits and sipped the glass, immediately noticing something.
“Where did ya get this cider?” I asked him.
“An orchard in a small town called, Ponyville. It is a family run farn, and they don’t make much, but they make the best.” He responded with a knowing smile.
“Ah agree it is the best, but y’all better git yer orders in fer next season early.” I informed him.
His ears perked up and he looked at me quizzically, “And why is that?”
“Half the orchard burned down.” I responded as calmly as I could.
His jaw dropped, almost unnaturally, and he began to stutter. “H-h-how d-do you know?”
“Ah jus’ came from there,” I said, before taking a sip of my cider. “The orchard was real dry, an’ a big storm came through, lighting the trees like candles on a cake.”
He shook his head and said, “That’s a darn shame. Thanks for the warning, Sir.” He said, before tending to the mare that had just sat down next to me.
I continued to wonder how I was going to get a crew together. My cider merely being something to keep myself busy as I thought.
Once again, I was pulled from my thoughts, but this time by a sigh from the mare seated next to me. The unicorn looked depressed, her mane was unkempt, her eyes were drooping, and she just stared at the whiskey she had ordered.
Unable to just do nothing, I asked, “Something wrong miss?”
“Wow,” Rainbow mumbled, “Big Mac is being pretty forward, and chatty, in his story.” She furrowed her brow, “Doesn’t seem like him at all; Then again, I don’t really know him...”
“N-no.” She managed, “I’m fine.”
“Alright.” I was hoping to leave it at that, but she apparently wasn’t.
“I used to be a showmare.” She said, a small smile cracking her face. “I traveled Equestria, doing magic tricks that earned me a small following. I was an illusionist, and an escape artist, doing things that would blow many ponies minds.” Then she sunk back down into her depression. “But, one day, somepony called me out on one of my bluffs, and when they all discovered that I couldn’t actually do anything that I said I could, they all left me.” She said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I came here to get away from it all, to start a new life, and forget about the old one. So far, no luck.”
“Me too.” I said, sipping from my cider again, slightly amazed that it wasn’t gone yet. “Ah used to be a farmer, then Ah lost mah leg,” I tapped the wooden appendage on the ground for emphasis. “and now Ah’m useless on a farm. I decided to buy a ship and sail the seas, so if ya want, ya can join mah crew.”
She seemed to perk up a little bit at that, responding with, “You know what? I think I will.” She gave a small salute and said to me, “My name is Smoky Mirror, Captain, it is a pleasure to be in your service.”
“Huh,” Rainbow said, while adjusting her position, as her wing had fallen asleep. “I was sure that it was going to be Trixie...”
“Call me Macintosh.” I informed her, “An’ meet me at the docks in the mornin’” I said, passing her a few bits as a bit of a signing bonus. She had perked up and trotted down the bar.
I finished off my cider and pushed the glass away from me. Suddenly, there was a voice next to me that spoke up.
“So, yer first mate told me, that ye be hirin’ a crew...”
“Eeeyup.” I guess that I would have to deal with this guy as well. “But, what do ya mean, ‘First Mate’?”
“Grog,” the guy spoke up. “He be tellin’ tha whole bar that ye be startin’ a wild journey.”
I chuckled, “Well, then he knows more than Ah do.” I then turned to face my confronter, to find myself face-to-face with a large, black, Labrador Retriever.
The shock of that caused me to jump a little, but I quickly recovered. “So, ya lookin’ fer a job?” I offered.
A small smile appeared on the dog’s face, and he nodded. “The name’s Sea Dog. An’ I was a skipper on a Diamond Dog tradin’ vessel, but I quit when we started tradin’ slaves.” As he said that, his smile disappeared and he looked off into space.
“Well, Ah don’t really know mah way ‘round a ship, an’ Grog don’t seem to be too trustworthy, so Ah’d love ta have ya on mah ship.” I said, holding out a hoof. Sea Dog grasped it in a huge black paw and shook it vigorously.
He stayed by my side the rest of the night, sorting out the rest of the ponies rearing for a job on the ship. After about three hours, I had gathered an entire crew.
I walked back to the docks, and I climbed on my ship, laying on the bed in my quarters, before drifting off to sleep.
“He hired a diamond dog?” Rainbow muttered to herself. “Why on earth would he do that?”
She realized that her muttering had turned to shouting when Applejack called up from below, “Rainbow? Is that you?”
She poked her head out from the cloud, “Yes?”
“What’s wrong?”
Rainbow Dash covered with, “Just getting into some reading.”
That made Applejack smile, seeing her friend who used to be so opposed to reading, now this into it. “Well, have fun, but don’t waste the day away.”
As Applejack walked away, Rainbow noticed that there was a bit more truth in her cover-up than she had initially intended. She was actually getting into this story, and she still didn’t have the deep, dark, secret that she had hoped for.
She decided that she needed to take a break, for fear of becoming attached, and she took off through the sky, doing stunts to get her blood flowing again.