“Get up!” came an unfamiliar, deep voice.
I opened my eyes, rubbing them as I got out of my bunk. The sound of waves crashing was all around, a weak strength among the shipmates. Looking around, I saw only one pony, a stallion, not the mare I had been recruited by the night before. He gave out a stress filled grunt and tossed me some sort of cracker or biscuit.
“Eat up,” the stallion said with this large spite sullied into his voice. “You’ll be working with Runt today, meet him near the cellblock and don’t be a lazy arse like the last fella.”
“Al-” I took a bite from the cracker. It was horrible, stale, and tasteless. I couldn’t help but gag on it as it dried up my mouth. “Alright…” He left the room, giving me no indication of who “Runt” was or how I would know which pony he was other than a location. I hoped he would be the only one in the cellblock area, as talking with strangers was still an uncomfortable thing for myself.
I got out of bed, or tried to. It was the hardest part of everyday, the largest routine followed by everypony, rich or poor, weak or strong, and though we all did this, for me it was hard. Knowing that a new day has begun, a day of the unknown consequences and punishments, a new day of disaster had started once again. I just wanted to lie there, give up, despite this great opportunity I had just been given for a start over, there was nothing more I wanted to be then nonexistent. Just poof from this realm, forever forgotten, and in my place nothing more. It was bound for somepony to replace me, but they would never be me to any close angle, and that didn’t bother me one bit. I’d rather be gone than replaceable, because at least from that point it would be my choice, not others. But still, life is full of wants and none of them seem to be mine. I put on my social mask, grabbed myself and pulled from the torn comfort of the bunk I got up, forced into life once more, not a single goodbye to those dreams of void, I would see them again, as soon enough as they went.
The hull, now lightened by sunlight leaking through cracks and holes, and a some more lanterns than last night, seemed to be a large open-area, if not for all the cargo and crew rummaging around for their duties. The cellblock was towards my left, alone mopping around was just a small colt, slipping around, bottom of the food chain. I went towards him, careful not to slip on the soapy-wet floor. He took slow notice of me, wishing I had not been here to help him out, announced by the violent snort that slipped from him.
“You Runt?” I asked rhetorically.
He turned his head up, giving me a better glance at him. I could tell why his name was Runt, his face was mature, his body muscular and scarred, his fur dark grey and mane light black, he hadn’t been a colt in a long time. “You the new boy?” His eyes wandered me in a bad way, not like how one pony would “check out” another for lust, but judgmentally.
“I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Yea.”
“Boy, either you are or you aren’t. Make up your damn mind, I ain’t here to do it for ya.”
“Alright. So what is we be doing here?” He didn’t like me. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the way society had been to him, or I’m just that bad at first impressions.
“Right now, you’re gonna be feeding the stock.” Runt pointed to a bag pile in the corner cell. “Fill the buckets up to the brim and then lay down new hay when you’re done.”
“Alright.” Runt went off topside. I did the job like he asked, giving the stock their pesky seeds. Laying down “fresh” hay atop the old, decaying layer. It was an easy job, nothing complex at all, such a bore, but it earned my feed, that was all I needed.
With my job done, I decided I would go explore. After all, nopony told me I couldn’t, did they? I went around the stairs and proceeded to the other side of the ship. A bunch of ponies sat around on barrels or on the floor, resting or drunk. I guess the majority of work was topside. I passed by another set of quarters, these few seemed to be a bit more polished, special bunks for the important probably. Behind these sat a large room, one with two long dining tables, both rotting away and stained with food. Nopony was in here. I kept on towards the back where I found a peculiar doorway, gated with a velvety curtain.
“Could I borrow another knife, terribly sorry,” said a disembodied voice.
“Another?” this one sighed. “What happened to the last one?” This voice sounded feminine, but with a rickety crackle, unlike a normal pony.
“The darn things aren’t exactly easy to use, Kuil. If I had your claws I’d be done with this yesterday.” This voice sounded male, a little short of depth, a small loss of masculinity in it too.
“Here,” the one named Kuil said, I suspected she gave the other what he wanted. “I don’t have many left, you break or lose that one you better go take off one of your kind.”
“My kind?”
I pushed the curtain away and stepped into the room, unnoticed.
“You know what I meant.”
“I am nothing like those brutes, you know this well enough by now!”
I walked a little closer to their voices. Their backs were turned when I came into view. One was the griffin cook that Stargazer informed my of the night before, Kuil. The other I wasn’t sure. He was a smart-looking pony with grey fur, a black mane, and what I saw as a bone for a cutie mark. I just stood there, eavesdropping out of boredom.
“I know both you and them enough! Don’t you recall that I can’t leave this area and show my face? I’ve faced enough of them to see their atrocities. They be lucky I don’t poison their food every meal.”
“Just be lucky you have somepony like me to peacefully converse with you.”
“Yeah… Lucky me…”
I laughed at her statement. She turned around with a mad look in her eyes.
“What are you doing here?!” She was beautiful, for a griffin that is.
“Just wandering around, ma’am.” I was a little nervous, wanting to get out of her, but challenging myself to stay all the same.
“You’ve wandered a bit too far for my comfort, boy.”
“Uhh… Sorry…” I could feel my wings trying to flutter, it was an instinct I couldn’t control in nervous situations. “I should… I should go…” I felt a loose feather poking at my clothes, barely able to stay put.
“If it’s food you want, we’ve got a surplus of limes to hold you over. They’re fresh too, but only one for now,” said the pony, reaching below the counter for a large sack. He grabbed a small lime and tossed it towards me. “You must be new here, very likely so, I know most after serving the food for so long. What’s your name?”
“Two Bits,” I said, eager to get away from this area and find another place to work.
“Ah, nice to meet you, Two Bits. My name is Chap, short for Chapter. I read whenever I can, you see. The name fits just perfect for my case. I am the ships cook, well not really, I just say I am. Most of the crew wouldn’t eat at all if they knew a non-earth pony made their food.” I knew this feeling. “Kuil handles all the food. I am just sort of here to study.”
“Study?”
“Yes, study.”
“He meant what do you study, Chap,” Kuil cut in, then turned back to get back to preparing her work.
“Oh, of course. Well, I study what I see as interesting enough to look into. Right now,” he signaled towards his part of the counter, “I am studying the body of” I gagged at the sight, “rabbits.”
“Wha… Why?”
“Why not?”
“Well its… why are you even doing it near the rations?”
“Nopony seemed to have a problem with it before.”
Kuil cut in once again, “That’s because nopony but us have had a reason to come back here before.”
“So you’re fine with it yourself?”
“We ain’t the ones eating limes, boy. Cook gets special privileges on food, ya know? Now why don’t you hurry on outta here ‘fore we do something else you over concerned about.”
“Ah, well, I suppose I should get back to my research as well. Sir Bits, please, if you may, I would love another conversation sometime later, you are unlike the others in personality. I could use a pony like you to get more research done.”
I turned towards the doorway, ready to leave. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Chap.” I honestly didn’t care for his research at all, but if it meant days away from an uncertain crew, I’d take it.