Rainbow Dash’s morning weather duties passed quickly, her good mood after the night before allowed her to work faster. She was fairly certain that it wasn't a date, after all, he liked somepony in Ponyville; but still, she had a fun night hanging out with the guy that she liked.
She was currently trotting through Ponyville, scanning the crowds of ponies for any that matched Big Mac's cryptic description. She only had a few things to go on: for one, this mystery mare was confident and stubborn, which narrowed her search significantly, but there were plenty of ponies that she didn't know well enough to tell; the next thing was the mane and tail, messy like Daring's; and finally this girl had maroon eyes that matched Daring Doo's.
No pony she saw in town matched this description, but it felt eerily familiar, like she we exactly who it was, but couldn't place it.
She sighed as she stepped up to the Apple family stand, and greeted Applejack with a smile. "Hey, AJ, how was girl's night?"
It seemed like the spa treatment had done wonders for her; because, Applejack looked almost like a completely different pony, she seemed more relaxed, her mane and coat shined more than usual, and it looked like her hooves had been polished.
Judging by the larger amount of stallions in line, Rainbow wasn't the only one to notice.
"Howdy, Rainbow," She smiled back at her friend. "Girl's night was great, but it woulda been better with ya'll there." She raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer to Rainbow Dash. "Speakin' of which, where were ya? Mac was takin' care of the Crusaders, so what'd you do last night?"
Rainbow had completely forgotten about her botched cover story, "Uh, well, it turns out that Scoots had mixed up the dates, but when I showed up, they didn't want me to leave." She explained as convincingly as she could. "So, I stayed and helped your brother with them." she smiled as she finished her cover story.
Applejack thought that something seemed off with her story. "Ya spent time with mah brother?" Rainbow nodded, "You? You used to barely stand comin' over ta dinner, 'cause he wouldn't talk. What's goin' on?"
"Well, he finally talked with me last night, so that was kinda cool. Also, your granny always tried to make dirty jokes about me and him, and that was weird." Applejack chuckled in recollection. Dash then heard grumbling from the stallion behind her in line. "Oh, I guess I'm holding things up, I'll take a bushel of red delicious and be off."
Rainbow paid for the apples and took off for her house. She left the basket of fruit in the kitchen and, with a song in her heart, took to the skies over the Apple homestead.
The day was perfect for Big Mac. It was just cool, with high-level clouds. This allowed him to be comfortable while he worked and watch for the bright blue, master of aeronautics that he had spent much of the previous night with.
He placed a large basket, filled to the brim with apples, in his cart just before he saw her. She seemed to add an extra flourish to each of her steps.
Mac didn't see any harm in letting his work sit for a few minutes while he watched her.
Something was different about Rainbow Dash's flying session today, she seemed to be in an especially good mood or something. Her flying had taken a turn from her standard calculated and perfected, to beautiful and passionate. Watching her fly felt to Big Macintosh like hearing an expert jazz musician play improv; it was unexpected, filled with emotion, and absolutely flawless.
Big Mac marveled at his personal air show for almost fifteen minutes, before his distraction decided to take a break. He wanted to find a way to let her know just how magnificent the performance had been, but he was too self-conscious to do that and nothing he thought of could come remotely close to fulfilling the sentiments that he felt.
Eventually, his halfhearted hopes of praising the queen of the skies had become vain as he saw her take off from the vaporous resting place.
With a reluctant sigh of defeat, he returned to his work. The distaste for his own cowardice left him too distracted to notice the faded rainbow contrail heading in the direction of his house.
Rainbow Dash found herself back at her airborne cloud-house with Big Mac’s dream journal safely tucked in her hooves. A sidelong glance at her dresser drew her attention to the unfinished, (secretly semi-autobiographical,) novel that she had started, and was now hidden underneath a stack of Daring Doo books. The comparison between her own novel and the one that she had borrowed from the Apple household, was staggering.
Big Mac’s story felt more developed, better written, and significantly more publishable. Sure, he would need to change some things to avoid lawsuits, but it was still very good.
She looked between the book in her front legs and the one tucked under mass quantities of other literature, and began to ponder if she should ask Big Mac to help her with her story.
The complete absurdity of that notion had brought her back to her current objective, reading the next chapter and returning the book before Big Mac turned in for the day.
The gentle rocking of the ship had become comforting since my crew and myself had set out. Something that was not as comforting; however, was the ear-shattering snores coming from my temporary roommate.
Rainbow blushed slightly, but wasn’t sure why.
Apparently, sometime during the night, Daring Doo had adjusted herself and began to snore. Suddenly, in the pre-dawn hours, I was ripped from my sleep by the roaring of the mare that was now sleeping in my hammock.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon and I became aware that sleep was now hopeless. I rose up out of my makeshift bed, and began to put it away. As I finished, I decided that it was time to put an end to the assault on my ears.
I lightly shook the tan-coated mare until she awoke.
“Captian?” She asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Where am I?”
I turned to walk over to where I had hung my things. “Yer in mah room. Jus’ thought Ah’d wake ya up.”
“Come on Mac,” Rainbow Dash groaned at the character. “You need to be more gentle than that, she won’t take it well.”
“Oh, ok…” Daring Doo seemed rather accepting, until, “WAIT!”
"Told ya."
There was the sounds of a pony struggling with the improvised restraints that are applied while trying to get out of a hammock in a hurry, followed quickly by the thud of a pony hitting floorboards.
“How did I get in your room?” She asked as she tried to remove the blankets that were still holding her hostage. “What happened last night, Captain? I promise, if you tried anything funny, I will seal you; in a tomb, so deep, that nopony will ever find where you went.”
“Hmmm…” Rainbow Dash mulled over the threat. “Not bad, but I think that I would’ve said, ‘I’ll drop you from the stratosphere,’ but still, pretty good.”
I was sincerely impressed with the threat. “Nnope, nothin’ funny. Ya fell asleep, an’ Ah jus’ thought it’d be easier to put ya in here.” At this point, I was examining my mane and tail in a small mirror; it looked like I would need to apply more dye soon, my original mane color was beginning to show through.
"Are you sure?"
"Eeyup."
"Alright," she finally seemed to be ok with the situation. "Just don't look."
"What?" the full intent of her request didn't quite register in my mind, so I turned around. "Why not?"
I was answered by a scream and a pith helmet to my face.
"I'm changing, captain. Can't a girl get some privacy?"
I raised an eyebrow at the request. "Uh, yer one of the only ponies Ah know that wears clothes all the time. There’s nothin’ wrong with it, so why do ya care if Ah see ya with yer shirt off?" I asked, now honoring her slightly ridiculous request.
"Um," I could feel the discomfort in her voice, "I just feel kinda dirty when I'm naked. I know it's ridiculous, I get that, but still."
Rainbow Dash snickered slightly at the situation. No matter what Rarity told her, Dash simply couldn’t grasp why it would be weird to be seen naked.
I tightened the belt that held up my sword and pistol, and walked toward the door of the cabin. "Well, Ah can respect that. Git ready, we're headin' into Baltimare today." I said, leaving her to finish readying herself.
The early morning crispness greeted me. I scanned the deck and saw Sea Dog and Schatzi huddled together at the prow. Chance had also found a place to sleep on the opposite end of the deck; because, apparently, he go too hot in the cabins.
I went over to the husky and shook him awake.
"Good morning, Captain." He greeted me through a yawn. "What can I help you with?"
"Ah need ya to wake the crew, tell em that we're landin' today."
Somehow, during those few words, the dog had managed to wake up completely. "Aye-Aye, Captain!" He then cheerfully scurried off into the bowels of the ship.
I then decided to ruin a special moment.
"Up and At 'em!" I shouted directly into the ears of the two dogs still sleeping on my deck. "This ain't no time fer yer puppy-love."
"Hehe, puppy love..."
The two scrambled around in confusion coming from a complete lack of comprehension of what was happening. Eventually, they found their bearings and stood up, blushing furiously and with their tails between their legs.
I chuckled lightly at the two love struck dogs and said, "Jus' git to yer posts, we dock this mornin,' so Sea Dog, git a crew ta haul in the anchor, and Schatzi, git the ship headin in the right direction."
I continued to bark out orders to the ponies and dogs that were ambling around the deck now, tightening riggings, unfurling sails, swabbing decks, and doing any other job that needed done. I observed the crew scurrying about for a few moments, before returning to my, now unoccupied, quarters to gather supplies.
Now armed with a large pouch of bits, as well as my other weapons hidden underneath of my cape, I headed back on deck as we were pulling into port.
Lumber Mill, Pointer, and several other ponies leapt from the deck of the ship onto the pier that we were preparing to moor at. They pulled the mooring lines taught, and hauled the enormous vessel tight against the dock and tied it up.
The majority of the crew, Daring Doo, and myself all left the ship, descending upon the town to go about our land-based activities. Many of them went to the nearest pubs and bars, planning to spend what money they had not gambled away, on liquor. Some were just wanting to see around the town, and some were under my command to search out and purchase specific provisions for the ship.
I was currently on the look for a stand that sold pitch, to keep the ship’s seaworthiness at peak capacity. My walking companion, Daring Doo, was on her way to the local university, to contact a colleague about some new treasure to hunt after.
The two of us walked through the lines of stalls, each one with a salespony barking out prices and sales. The cacophony of clashing calls from the competing companies was difficult to ignore, but I managed to avoid their alluring calls.
My compatriot wasn’t so strong-willed.
“Woah, Captain Mac!” She shouted to be heard, “Look at these!” She pulled me over to a stand laden with exotic fruits, being run by a timid and small colt. “Oh, I love these, they’re called carambola.”
“Hold on,” Rainbow said, thinking back. “Isn’t that starfruit? How does Big Mac know about Starfruit?”
She put some kind of accent on the name of the yellow fruit, obviously cherishing the memories that came with the exotic edibles. The magnificent example of the fruit had a delicious, tropical, smell, and an unfamiliar, foreign shape.
“I’m going to get one, Captain. I loved these while I was traveling the rivers in the Great Southern Rainforest.” She stared off certain look of blissful remembrance, that told me just how much she enjoyed the adventure.
“Sounds delicious.” I told the mare, who was scanning the stash of fruits for the freshest and best of the bunch. “We’ll take four.” I then informed the kid running the stall, who was ecstatic at making, what appeared to be his first sale.
The colt graciously accepted the bits that I pushed his way while taking the four best fruits that Daring Doo could locate. As we left the stall, Daring Doo showed me how to eat the tender meat of the foreign fruit.
I savored the tropical pungency of the bright fruit, and pondered over the soft body of the fruit that was so alien to an apple farmer such as myself.
I looked between the savory fruit and the mare that introduced me to the succulent fruit that I would have been so hesitant towards not long before, and I realized the significance. This fruit seemed to symbolize my life now; previously, I had been so normal, familiar, and safe, now I was abnormal, exciting, and slightly less than safe.
I knew that the mare beside me, with juice dripping down her chin and reveling in the local children’s excitement over meeting her, was a significant part of that.
“Ugh, I hate metaphors.” Rainbow Dash mumbled, subconsciously wiping her chin, attempting to rid it of juice.
I smiled to myself, surprisingly alright with the change; a little adventure would probably do me good.
“Hey, you there, big fella.” I was called out of my revelry by a nasally voice calling out, apparently to me. “Come over here, I got something I think you’d like.”
At the edge of the marketplace that we were currently in, I saw a scrawny unicorn stallion, wearing a fedora, and a long coat. Shifty little blue eyes peered out from under the hat, while he leaned up against the wall.
I decided to see what he was talking about, without putting my guard down. I walked over to where he was leaning and he magically lifted a roll of parchment out of his long coat.
“My name’s Slim, and I buy, sell, and trade valuables. If my information is correct, you’re a ship captain, am I right?” He said to me with a knowing smile.
“Eeyup.” I said with my standard blank expression.
“Well, I think that I have just the deal for you.” He said, with a big, toothy, smile.
I nodded, motioning for him to continue.
He stepped over to me, wrapping a hoof around my shoulders as best he could, and patting me on the chest. “You see, I have come across something that many sailors would murder for,” I saw his horn brighten slightly, more than he needed for simply holding the parchment roll. “I have managed to get ahold of a map…” I could feel my pouch of bits lift slightly of its own accord. “A map, to the treasure of The Flying Crab!” He finished with a flourish, holding the paper high in his telekinetic grip.
I noticed that my bit pouch was gone.
I smiled as I realized that he apparently had been too focused on tricking me, to notice what I had been doing with my hooves during his sales pitch.
“What was it?” Rainbow asked the book, her heart starting to pump harder than normal.
“Hey, Captain, what’s going on here?” I heard daring Doo ask as she joined me and the shady fellow.
“Daring Doo?” Slim asked, apparently surprised. “At my humble trading post? I’m honored.” He said with a cheesy bow.
“Yeah, so Mac, I gotta get going, you going to come with?” She said, ignoring the desperate stallion.
“Eeyup.” I walked away from the pony, the smile that comes with a dirty little secret attempting to break through my lips.
When we were out of earshot of Slim, I turned to Daring Doo, “Look what Ah got outta him.”
I then held up Slim’s sack of bits, twice the size and weight of the one he took from me.
Rainbow gasped, “Oh, that’s what he was doing. Clever…” She smiled with pride at Big Mac’s antics.
Her eyes were huge, “How did you get him to give that to you?”
“Ah didn’t.”
By this time, we had stopped walking, and I could almost see the gears turning in her head. “Did-did you steal that?”
“Ah feel justified.” I then tucked it back in my cloak.
“Captain! How could you steal from him? I refuse to condone this.”
“Fine, then yer payin’ fer yer whip back.”
I continued to walk until she said, “Wait, what?” I stopped in time to see her realize that her trusty tool was no longer coiled around her wing.
She looked back at the corner where Slim was trying to haggle something out of another pony, and I could see the fire in her eyes.
I have never felt so bad for a criminal.
As she walked back from the bruised and beaten Slim, she glowered at me. “Be quiet.”
I pretended to pull a zipper across my lips and we continued on.
“Heh, well that was cool. I can’t wait to see what happens next.” Rainbow said, putting the book down while she went to get a snack.
After finishing off a red delicious and some peanut butter, Rainbow took off with the book for the Apple homestead.
She noticed that the sun was further towards the the horizon than it had been when she returned the book the past few days. A quick assessment of the farm, showed Big Mac slowly walking toward the house, apparently finished with his chores for the day.
Rainbow began to panic, and put on an extra burst of speed to get around him. She pulled up to his window and broke in the same way that she usually did. This time; however, she went faster, and desperately shoved the book under his bed, before leaping out of the, still open, window.
Big Mac entered his room, and noticed that the window was still open. He stuck his head out, looking around, before pulling back in and closing the pane, completely unaware of the pair of magenta eyes watching him from a cloud overhead.