Pound Cake soared through the air, while carrying Little Strongheart along the railroad. He carried a huge cart full of bottled water behind him, hitched to his back.
The unicorn and buffalo troops were trudging back towards Mareicopa. There were only a hundred or so who could even walk. About fifty others who were injured moaned in agony from cracked ribs and concussions as buffalo carried them on their backs through the sweltering desert heat. The rest, many dozens more, remained on the train, dead from the derailment.
“For their sake, hopefully they brought water with them like we did,” said Little Strongheart. “They have a long journey back to Mareicopa.”
“Yep. But a shorter journey until they catch up with our draftee buffalo friends. That’s why we’ve gotta beat them there,” said Pound, picking up speed as he passed by the buffalo and unicorn soldiers. He preemptively rose in altitude, expecting them to shoot at him. But the shots never came. Maybe they didn’t see him, or didn’t think it was worth their time.
After ten more minutes, Pound and Little Strongheart reached the pack of fifty buffalo whom he and Pumpkin had rescued. He landed on the ground in front of them.
“Hey guys,” said Pound Cake. “How’s it going? Can everybuffalo walk okay?”
Most of them nodded. Pound Cake started handing out bottles of water to the parched buffalo.
“Well, you certainly look better than the unicorns and the other buffalo further up the line,” said Little Strongheart.
The buffalo muttered and murmured.
“Yeah, we derailed the train like we said. There’s a pack of about a hundred of them coming this way. They’re following the track, and they probably wouldn’t be happy to see you,” said Pound Cake.
“We should leave the side of the train tracks before they see us, and head back to our homes,” Little Strongheart added. “How many of you were from my tribe? The one that Chief Thunderhooves commands?”
About half of the buffalo raised their hooves.
“That’s about right. We are the biggest tribe,” she said, turning to Pound Cake. She turned back to the buffalo. “Alright, you all can come with me. The rest of you can come with us if you wish, or may return to your own tribes to gather your families and then meet us. We live just west of Appleloosa.”
The buffalo nodded and separated themselves into groups. Then, they began the long walk towards Little Strongheart’s camp.
The buffalo sat in their teepees, resting in the shade from the hot sun, just as Little Strongheart, Pound Cake, and the rest of the buffalo arrived.
“Attention, buffalo tribal members!” Little Strongheart called out.
They all came out of their teepees and gathered around. Many of their mouths dropped open in shock at seeing the newly-arrived buffalo and the contraptions on their backs.
“What happened to these bulls?” one of the buffalo, an older bull, asked.
“Where is Chief Thunderhooves?” one of them cows asked. The others nodded along with her, also curious.
“Chief Thunderhooves has dishonored this tribe by turning our buffalo into technological abominations against their will,” said Little Strongheart.
One of the buffalo demonstrated by creating a small lightning bolt from his horns, which arced up into the air but didn’t hit anything.
“He has drafted and kidnapped buffalo in the middle of the night and has forced them to fight, threatening their families with death if they refused,” Little Strongheart continued.
The buffalo all gasped.
“He has threatened the peace with Equestria that was so hard-fought for the buffalo over many years. He ignored reasonable warnings from our friends in Appleloosa, preferring his hot-headed warpath. For this reason, Chief Thunderhooves is no longer the chief of this tribe,” she said, shaking her head.
“Then who is?” asked many of the buffalo.
Little Strongheart stuck her head up tall, standing proud.
“I am.”
Many of the buffalo applauded. A few of them, who had been supporters of Thunderhooves, murmured and grumbled.
Self-proclaimed Chief Strongheart stuck up her hoof. “I understand that you did not choose me, that this is an imposition. But it is necessary. I do this out of love for the buffalo, so that we may live free, so that we may live in peace. If you have a problem with this, and you desire to be ruled by my father once more… there are other tribes which would take you.”
She pointed at the backs of the buffalo who stood tall behind her, which surged with electrical energy. Then, she pointed out west into the desert, towards the other tribes closer to Mareicopa.
The crowd quieted down. Pound Cake smiled as he took off into the air.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I am a 14-year-old unicorn named Pumpkin Cake. We have met before, maybe you remember me from Ponyville. I live in Appleloosa now, and I’m writing this letter to tell you what has happened here.
On monday my pegasus brother Pound and I blew up a train with an invasion force of dozens of unicorn and buffalo soldiers. The buffalo were armed with lightening cannons, many of them died. But even after the deraillment, I believe that the town is still in great danger, however.
This is because, it was only through very good luck and quick timing that we were able to blow up this train. Next time that they want to invade, I don’t think it will be so easy to stop them. They won’t make the same mistakes again. What if they don’t come by train next time? What if they take another rout next time? What if they come in the evening when we can’t see them? Hopefully you can see how dire it still is here.
I ask that you please put a garison of pegasi over the air to the west so that they can watch if they try an invasion again, and help us fight. I understand that Appleloosa is low on your list of prioritees, but the ASDF is very small and can’t fight off an actual army for long, especially if they have lightening cannons. We may not be Dodge Junction or Tall-tale, but we need at least a small force here to help our town militia. If Appleloosa falls, how soon until Dodge Junction falls to the East? It’s time to hold the line. Please help us. Thank you.
Sincerly,
Pumpkin Cake
After reading it aloud, Pumpkin set the letter down, folding it in her magic and placing it inside the envelope. She floated it over to Derpy Hooves.
“Wow, that sounds dangerous! I’m sure glad I don’t live here!” said Derpy, her eyes doing circles in her skull.
Pumpkin nodded. “If you could mark it urgent, or whatever it is that you do, I don’t know. Just please make sure that Twilight Sparkle gets it and reads it first, before any of her other letters. I would really owe you one, Derpy.”
Her eyes crossed. “Well, I’m not normally supposed to do this unless it’s from, like, a diplomat or something… but I will just for you.”
Derpy reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a red stamp which said “URGENT” on it. Then, she smacked it onto the envelope. She winked at Pumpkin with one eye and smiled.
“I’ll be sure she gets it. You can count on me. Neither rain nor sleet nor hail nor… what was the last one?”
“Uh… sunshine?” asked Pumpkin.
“No, not that one…” Derpy put her hoof to her face, closing her eyes. After a few moments, she opened them again. “I forget. Ah, well, whatever it is, it won’t stop me from doing my job!”
Pumpkin giggled. “Thanks, Derpy. I knew I could count on you.”
Manehattan
“Mail for you, Princess Twilight.”
Derpy Hooves reached into her bulging saddlebag and pulled out a letter, smiling as she held it in her teeth.
“Oh, thank you, Derpy,” said Twilight, reaching over to grab the letter.
Derpy shook her head. “No, not this letter; this one’s for your receptionist. These letters are for you.”
Derpy reached with both of her hooves and emptied the entire bulging saddlebag full of hundreds of letters out onto the grey carpeted floor of Twilight’s office.
Twilight Sparkle sighed. “It seems like there’s more and more of them everyday.”
Her horn lit up as all of the letters floated one by one over her desk.
“Junk… … junk… Super PAC… junk... bill… survey… wait a minute, what’s this?”
Twilight opened the letter marked “URGENT.” She scanned over it, her eyes darting across the page.
“Well, that’s interesting news. Thank you, Derpy.”
Derpy Hooves smiled and walked out the door.
Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, and General Spitfire sat around a conference table.
Spitfire motioned with her hoof towards a map of the Equestrian continent.
“The good news is that the Second Kingdom hasn’t made any territorial gains for several months. Even longer, if you don’t count that treaty Blueblood signed with Thunderhooves as a territorial gain. The SK is still confined to territory around Canterlot, Ponyville, Mareicopa, the Buffalo Reservations, and the Everfree River all the way out to the sea. We’ve been holding our battle lines very well, and our earth pony battalions are dug into trenches all around the front lines of unicorn territory. It’s costing us a lot of ponies, but we’ve stopped their forward momentum for now. The Zebras are still besieging Tall Tale and Vanhoover, and they blew up a bridge just a few weeks ago, but they haven’t captured the cities yet.”
Twilight nodded. “They probably don’t even want to. What would they do with the cities even if they captured them?”
Luna scoffed. “They’re just ensuring that we have to divert precious resources from our true fight in the Second Kingdom theater.”
“They might not want to actually capture the cities,” said Spitfire. “Of course, they’re trying their best to destroy them. The zebra forces shell those two cities every day. The zebras even have spies and saboteurs planted inside the cities, posing as civilian zebra immigrants. We rounded up five spies just yesterday.”
Twilight blinked. “That’s a lot of spies. Are you sure that they’re all spies and not just regular Equestrian citizens who happen to be zebras? You know, like Zecora? Vanhoover and Tall Tale have a lot of peaceful zebra immigrants who live there.”
Spitifire said, “We act on reliable tips from the townsponies whenever they see a suspicious zebra. We’ve captured several of them with bombs, guns, night vision goggles, detailed maps of the city, and other sabotage and spy equipment. Of course, we aren’t the courts, so we can’t ‘prove’ them guilty. That’s for a jury to decide, if it’s even possible. But it’s complicated. A lot of the zebras that we’ve captured don’t even have any official Equestrian documents. Some can’t even speak Equish. How do you put someone like that on trial?”
Twilight and Luna remained silent.
Spitfire solemnly nodded. “Exactly. So for now, we have all of the captured zebras in a detention center under heavy armed guard so that they don’t try any funny business. We’ll let them all go when the war is over, unless the prosecutor decides to press charges and try them for treason or sedition.”
Twilight sighed. “What a mess. But the good news is that we’re about to put a stop to the Zebra Empire’s war against us. I’ve sent Zecora out to go to there this evening.”
“This is excellent news!” said Luna.
Spitfire smiled. “And about time, too! When is she going to kill Zaporizhia?”
Twilight shook her head. “Zecora told me that it may take a week or two from when she arrives to when she assassinates Emperor Zaporizhia. She said that she has to get some assets into place first. I’m not sure what all that means, but I trust her judgment to carry out her top-secret mission. She said that she would assassinate him as soon as possible.”
Spitfire said, “As soon as he dies, I say that we blitz all of the zebra forces and free our west coast from the siege. The zebras will all be demoralized from the death of their supposedly immortal ‘god’ emperor, and no one will be at the top to give them any orders. We can take advantage of that chaos to smash the zebras. We should station a pegasus garrison there right away, and have them lie in wait. Then, as soon as ol’ Zappo bites the dust, we have our guys swoop in and bomb all of their positions. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. Then, we bring our guys back to the eastern theater and focus on victory against the Second Kingdom.”
“This is an excellent military strategy. My sister would have been proud,” said Princess Luna.
“Well, there’s a complication,” said Twilight. “Namely, the buffalo alliance. I have heard from Pound and Pumpkin Cake that the unicorns and their buffalo allies recently attempted an invasion of Appleloosa, armed with ‘lightening cannons,’ whatever that means. But the ASDF repelled them by derailing their train.”
Spitfire chuckled. “Pound Cake is a tough little guy, huh? Maybe you should have thought twice when you refused to arm the town militia.”
Twilight nodded. “I just didn’t want to send young teenagers and untrained civilians off to battle. It was and still is unconscionable to me.”
Luna said, “I agree. We are not a nation that sends young children or inexperienced soldiers off to battle. There would be chaos on the front lines.The innocence of our youths must be preserved at all costs.”
Twilight shrugged. “But I guess the townsponies are going ahead and defending their town regardless of what we here in Manehattan think. And I guess they’re doing a decent job of it. For now, that is. What happens if Appleloosa falls?”
Spitfire pointed to her map. “Well, look at it on the map. Appleloosa is basically a glorified pit stop, sitting on the MDJ line between the two big cities of Mareicopa and Dodge Junction. Appleloosa has a few hundred residents, wooden shacks, and no natural resources other than apples, which we have plenty of. The town is also undefensible, since it’s out in the middle of the flat San Palomino Desert with barely any natural barriers around it. If Blueblood wants to waste blood and treasure to conquer Appleloosa, that’s fine with me. Let him hold it and try to keep up with the logistical nightmare of supplying his desert army and buffalo allies with water and munitions using a single rail line.
“Most of our troops in the area are stationed to the east in Dodge Junction, which is a bigger city with thousands of ponies, several rail and supply lines, and natural resources. There’s a giant mesa out west of the city where we have a fort atop, and we can see for miles. Oh, and there are actually pegasi in Dodge Junction, so they can change the weather and bring in rainclouds to our troops when they need water.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “So you don’t think we should station any troops in Appleloosa?”
Spitfire shook her head. “It sounds like that ASDF militia is holding their own pretty well. Pound Cake is a tough kid. I’m sure his sister is, too. They’ll make it very costly for Blueblood to take that town. I mean, I’d love to station troops there to help them out, and I would hate to lose the town, but we have other priorities right now, on the west coast. We’re just too short on troops, otherwise I’d do it. After all, this is the first war that Equestria has fought in a long time, and the first one after the Cloud Confederacy seceded and took much of our pegasi military with them. The Second Kingdom, Buffalo Nation, and the Zebra Empire have the draft, of course, so they have a guaranteed source of soldiers to replace the ones who die—”
“A draft is unacceptable!” Luna exclaimed, slamming her hoof against the table. “In thousands of years, Equestria has never had to resort to making pacifist ponies fight wars. We have faced many dire threats: changelings, wendigoes, and dragons to name a few, all without needing a draft. We have had a volunteer army since our nation’s founding. I intend to keep it as such.”
Twilight Sparkle blinked. She didn’t often get to see Luna this passionate.
Spitfire backed up, blanching. “I wasn’t suggesting anything of the sort. I mean, a draft would be nice for the war effort, but I understand. No draft.”
“Good,” said Luna, crossing her hooves. “Let us never resort to such a thing.”
Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall behind her.
“Well, that concludes the military meeting,” she said. “Time for my meeting with Filthy Rich. So many meetings and letters. You never told me that being a princess was this hard, Luna.”
Luna chuckled. Twilight shook Spitfire’s hoof, and she left the room.
“I normally let you handle economics, Twilight Sparkle,” said Princess Luna. “I have faith in your good judgment in that matter. Now, I rest so that I may return to dream patrol. Our subjects have many nightmares for me to tame nowadays, you know.”
Twilight nodded. “War is hell. Thank you for making our nights a little more restful, Luna.”
Luna sighed. “I only wish that I could get to everypony who needs me. Alas, there are not enough hours in the night. I serve but a meager fraction of our subjects these days.”
Filthy Rich smiled a pearly white smile as he entered the open doorway of Twilight’s office.
“Hey, Twi! Good to see you!” he called out as he entered the doorway, grasping her hoof and shaking it vigorously.
“Hello, Filthy Rich,” she said. “I’m curious as to what brings you here. The Equestrian Economic Council isn’t supposed to meet for another week.”
He sat down. “I just wanted to thank you again for helping me out. You did a great job stopping the workers at my stores from unionizing last week. You really have the gift of gab. Thank you,” he said.
Twilight blushed and looked the other way. “Don’t thank me, I mean, the workers deserve the credit. They were the ones who decided to get back to work! I can’t really take too much credit for just giving a speech.”
“Aw, well…” said Filthy Rich. “I mean, I was about to offer your military some help, but if you don’t need it…”
Twilight’s pupils dilated.
“Yes, please,” said Twilight. “We need all the help we can get to turn our trench warfare stalemate into a decisive victory.”
“Oh, I know you do,” said Filthy Rich, showing a toothy grin. “I keep myself appraised of the military situation. Sounds like you guys have a lack of signups and are short on troops. It’s a shame. The military really isn’t respected enough in our society.”
Twilight shrugged. “Well, it’s understandable. Ponies are a peaceful race. Equestria never spends too much on the army. During the last war that we had eight years ago with the changelings, a few of our veterans were even booed when they returned. I mean, I don’t agree with that, but that should give you an idea of how anti-war many ponies are.”
Filthy Rich shook his head in disgust. “Those civilians have no idea what those stallions and mares go through every day to ensure their safety. I served in the military myself, you know.”
Twilight nodded. “So what were you going to do to help?”
“Well,” said Filthy Rich, “I was thinking about doing something in my stores. I’ll give extra salary to any employee who commits to a six-month-or-more rotation, to be paid when they return from service to their job. I’ll also institute a veteran’s discounts on all my merchandise! They served their country, so it’s the least I can do.”
Twilight smiled. “That’s very generous of you.”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” said Filthy Rich, waving his hoof in the air. “Although, it might cut into my profits a bit. I don’t mind sacrificing bits to be patriotic, but boy, that Hollow Shades megamart was supposed to open, but it’s hit a snag, and—”
“Hollow Shades?” Twilight interrupted, raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, Hollow Shades. You know, the bayou village east of Canterlot. Bunch of trees, swamps, and very little sunlight. Lots of poverty and run-down shacks, too,” said Filthy Rich. “They make some delicious red beans and rice, though.”
“Oh, I know about Hollow Shades. It just sounds like an odd place to open a megamart,” said Twilight.
Filthy Rich laughed, throwing his hooves in the air. “Are you kidding? It’s the perfect place to open a megamart. They don’t have a Rich’s Barnyard Bargains or any other department store, for that matter. It’s an entirely untapped market.”
Twilight nodded. “I see. That makes sense.”
Filthy Rich sighed. “Well, it would make sense, but that darn town council won’t approve the permits. They keep saying that it’ll ruin their local economy. But how can they say that? I’d offer the cheapest prices in town, and those impoverished ponies in Hollow Shades could really use it. My store would be a godsend, but those ponies just don’t know what’s best for them.”
“I’ll see what I can do to change the town council’s mind,” said Twilight.
“Oh, and one other thing,” said Filthy Rich. “There’s this old landowner who won’t sell the land that I’d need for the store. All the other property owners in the area have agreed to sell, so he’s the last holdout. It would be a shame for one little old farmer to stop an entire town from getting the goods that they need.”
Twilight said, “I can use eminent domain to make him sell it to you.”
“Great!” Filthy Rich exclaimed. “I knew I could count on you, Twi. Alright, so I’m going to go and institute those veteran-friendly policies right away. Let me know as soon as you grease the wheels over there in bayou ville.”
“Will do,” said Twilight. They shook hooves and Filthy Rich departed.
A thin, crescent moon hung in the sky over the city of Tall Tale. Off in the distance, gunfire and explosions rang out every second or so. A bright flash exploded on the outskirts of town as a stray mortar hit a building.
Under cover of darkness, thick evergreen trees, and thick fog, Zecora stood by the ocean, next to a narrow wooden dock just on the outskirts of town. A small sailboat was moored to a post, illuminated by a lantern which sat inside. An old, grey-maned, navy blue-coated earth pony stood next to the boat. He wore an eyepatch, and one of his hind legs was made of wood. His cutie mark was a picture of a sailboat.
Zecora walked out onto the dock, approaching the small sailboat.
“Are ye Zecora?” the stallion asked, wincing with his good eye at her dark silhouette.
“That is me. I am the one that you see.”
“Well shiver me timbers!” the sailor exclaimed, smiling as a corncob pipe bobbed up and down in his mouth. “Please to meet ye! Name’s Chilly Waters, and I’m the cap’n o’ this here vessel. With any luck, we won’t end up in Davy Pones’ locker! Arr!”
Zecora shook her head. “Is this sailor garb and accent merely an act? Or is this how you really are as a fact?”
Chilly Waters shook his head. He glanced around, and once he was sure there was nopony in hearing range, he said, “No, it’s a clever disguise. As a ‘sea turtle’ who specializes in illegally ferrying zebras to Equestria, I can’t be recognizable as who I really am. So I dyed my mane, put on this eyepatch, and faked an accent. I’ll agree to drop the act when I’m talking to you, since Princess Twilight told me that I could trust you, but only if you agree to stop talking in those ridiculous rhymes.”
Zecora laughed. “Your disguise is not so clever. As for dropping my rhymes, the answer is never.”
The sailor groaned. But then, his eyes lit up with an idea.
“I’m just going to speak in Swazili, then,” he said in the zebra language.
Zecora rolled her eyes.
“I can still rhyme in Swazilli. See, I’m doing it right now,” she said, in a sentence which rhymed when she spoke it in Swazilli.
Chilly Waters smiled. “But do you have to rhyme in Swazilli?”
“I don’t have to rhyme at all in any language,” said Zecora. “It’s just something that I do.”
Chilly Waters chuckled as he climbed into the sailboat. Zecora glanced around, and then back at the sailor. She didn’t speak, as Chilly Waters untied the ship and started rowing out to sea.
A few minutes later, he asked, “Why were you talking in those stupid rhymes to begin with? I mean, it must be hard to come up with a rhyme for everything.”
“It’s just a speaking technique that I use,” said Zecora.
“Huh,” said Chilly Waters. “What sort of speaking technique is it? It certainly can’t make speaking the language any easier.”
“It doesn’t, but that’s the point,” said Zecora. “Think about how much slower you would have to talk if you had to find a rhyme for everything. You would probably say far fewer words. Others would be having entire conversations, and you would only say a few sentences.”
Chilly Waters nodded, bringing back the oar as he had to row against a prevailing gust of wind. “I already have enough trouble talking in that stupid pirate accent.”
“If you forced yourself to spend more time choosing every word, then you would be very careful about what you say. You would pick each word with deliberation. Your listeners would hang on your every word. A wise zebra—or pony—says very much with very few words.”
“Huh. Well, can a wise zebra help me out with the rowing?” asked Chilly Waters. He motioned with his head towards a set of oars lying in the boat.
Zecora nodded, and picked up the oars.
“I’d turn on the motor, but I don’t want to make any noise and get caught. We should be hitting a westward current soon enough. We just have to get farther out to sea until we hit the tradewinds,” said Chilly Waters. “After that, it should be smooth sailing. And you’ll be amazed at how fast the wind current shifts once it does.”
He continued to row for a few minutes, heaving with his hooves as the craft moved against the wind.
“So what brings you to the Zebra Empire? Princess Twilight wasn’t all that specific. Most zebras that I ferry are leaving the Zebra Empire. They’re looking for a job in Equestria, or they’re secretly atheists who don’t want to worship Zaporizhia anymore. From what I hear from zebras, and from what I’ve seen personally, the Zebra Empire isn’t a nice place to live.”
Zecora narrowed her eyebrows. “My reasons for going back are secret. I’m sure that you can respect my privacy given your own occupation, Chilly Waters. You break both Zebra and Equestrian immigration law with what you do.”
Chilly Waters chuckled. “And I was too careless, and I got caught. But Princess Twilight herself offered me a princess pardon if I would ferry you to the Zebra Empire. Funny, I get excused from breaking the law… by breaking the law. I guess that’s just how politics works.”
“How were you caught?” asked Zecora.
Chilly Waters sighed. “I got drunk at a bar in Tall Tale last week and let my cover slip. A mare that I wanted to hook up with asked me what I did for a living. When I told her, I accidentally said ‘sea turtle’ instead of ‘sailor.’ It was a slip of the tongue, but I figured it wasn’t a big deal. Tall Tale is full of honest, hard-working zebra immigrants.
“But as soon as I accidentally said ‘sea turtle,’ she threw her drink in my face and accused me of being a traitor to Equestria who was bringing in spies and murderers. I tried explaining to her that I didn’t ferry soldiers, that I only ferried zebras who wanted to make an honest living working in the vineyards, the shipyards, the lumberyards, all the different sorts of ‘-yards’ that are on the west coast that need workers and don’t care if you have stripes or a solid coat.
“The zebras that I ferry aren’t the Zebra army, and they’d never kill anypony. Tall Tale and Vanhoover are full of zebra immigrants; most of them are good people. And most of the ponies in those cities are pretty tolerant and know that the zebras who live in Equestria aren’t their enemies. They make our wine, they cut our trees, they unload our ships. They’re our neighbors, and often, our friends. But this particular mare wouldn’t have it. She yelled and screamed ‘traitor’ at me until the police came and dragged my stupid, drunken flank out of the bar.”
“Perhaps if you had chosen your words to this mare more carefully, you wouldn’t have made that mistake,” said Zecora, chuckling.
“Perhaps. I know for one thing that I’m not speaking in rhyme to do it.”
Zecora rolled her eyes, and Chilly Waters chuckled.
He continued, “But anyway, they locked me in a jail filled with dozens of zebras. This wasn’t the regular minimum-security county lockup, either. It was some center on the outside of town. There were a bunch of Equestrian soldiers guarding the place with guns. There were barbed wires on the sides of the fences.
“Most of the prisoners were zebras. In fact, I think I was one of the only ponies in there. Some of the zebras might have been street criminals or spies for Zaporizhia, but not all of them were. I even recognized a few of them that I had ferried over, and most of them hated Zaporizhia and thought he was a fraud, not a god! There were a lot of older zebra mares with families. They weren’t spies. Some of them even told me that they had papers and visas and were still detained regardless.”
Zecora raised an eyebrow. “You mean that they’re rounding up zebras in Tall Tale off the streets?”
Chilly Waters chuckled. “Not all of the zebras, and not all of the time, but it still happens. Anyway, I was held there until a few days ago, until the guards took me from the center and put me in a dark room. Then, none other than Princess Twilight herself showed up. She told me that there was a zebra that she wanted me to ferry back to the Zebra Empire, and she offered me a secret pardon. I thought that it was odd, but I said okay. I mean, anything to have my freedom back. I’m not a traitor; I’m just trying to pay the bills. But my pardon is conditional. I can never be a sea turtle again, never tell anypony but you about my pardon, and I have to agree never to contact the princess again.”
Zecora shook her head. “Twilight never told me of this.”
Chilly Waters shrugged. “Well, why would she? I’m not sure why you’re going back to the Zebra Empire, but I’d bet money that you were chosen directly by the princess for a secret mission, just like I was chosen. You’re some sort of spy or assassin who’s going to stir up trouble against the Zebra regime, aren’t you?”
Chilly Waters turned his head sideways as he leered at Zecora. She remained silent. She just rowed even harder.
The sailor smiled. “Hah! I knew it! Yes, maybe Princess Twilight didn’t want you to start questioning your loyalties to Equestria, as you would if you knew how they treated zebra civilians in Tall Tale and Vanhoover. She just wanted you to complete your mission first and ask questions later. No second-guessing allowed.”
Zecora put down her oars in the boat. She stared back towards Tall Tale and Vanhoover.
“Well, all I know is one thing,” said Chilly Waters. “The sooner that Zaporizhia kicks the can, the better. The zebras are good people. They just have a terrible leader.”
Still not speaking, Zecora turned back to Chilly Waters.
He continued to row. “Well, hey, just tell me if you want to go back, and I’ll turn the boat around right now, drop you back in Tall Tale, and then disappear off into the sunset. If you choose not to complete your mission, I would totally understand. If you want to go give an earful to the princess, then by all means, you’re free to do it. I mean, if I were you, I—”
Chilly Waters’ eyes widened as the wind started to gust and pick up.
“LOOK OUT!” he shouted, pointing his hoof at something behind Zecora.
Zecora turned back, just as the thick metal rebar holding the sail swung back from the gust and hit her in the face.
Chilly Waters dropped his oars in the boat and rushed over to Zecora, who lie on the floorboards, slumped back onto the ground.
“Zecora? Zecora?” he asked. He reached over with his hoof and checked her neck pulse.
Her heart was still beating, but she was out cold.
“Dammit!” Chilly Waters exclaimed. He grabbed the oars and rowed in the opposite direction, back towards Tall Tale. Soon, he reached the winds that carried him back to the coast.
Chilly Waters arrived at the shore, mooring his boat back up with the dock. He reached over with his hoof to check Zecora’s pulse for the tenth time since she had been hit by the rebar. Her heart was still beating.
“Alright, it just looks like you’ve been knocked out. Hopefully it’s not a coma. I’ll take you back home and get you some rest. If it gets worse or if you don’t wake up in a few hours, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
He glanced back over at Tall Tale, where the morning sun had just started coming up over the horizon. He could see a smoke plume from an explosion that had gone off.
“I just hope I don’t have to do that,” he said.
Chilly Waters heaved Zecora over his back, walking over to a wooden cart parked near the dock. He set Zecora down, covered her with a tarp, and hitched himself to the cart.
“Don’t die on me, Zecora,” said Chilly Waters, rushing along the street. He glanced eastward at the sun. Hopefully he would get back home before the sun rose.
After ten minutes, he saw a column of Equestrian soldiers in the road, walking towards him.
Okay, just act natural. Drop the sailor gig. You’re just a normal stallion out on his morning routine. His early, early morning routine.
“Morning, gentlestallions,” said Chilly Waters, nodding at them as he walked by.
“Morning,” said the earth pony officer who led the column.
“Stay safe out here,” said a pegasus officer. “The Zebras have been shelling us extra hard the past few days.”
“I sure will,” said Chilly Waters.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the column passed him by one by one.
That didn’t turn out so bad, he thought.
But then, towards the end of the column, one of the soldiers, a unicorn, jumped out of the column and pointed his gun towards Chilly Waters.
“What’s a sailor like you doing this far inland?” he demanded, pointing his gun at Chilly Waters’ sailboat cutie mark.
Chilly Waters blushed. “I’m not a sailor; I just build model sailboats in my spare time.”
“Private Triggerhorn, get back in line!” the officer yelled at the soldier. “Leave this civilian alone!”
“He’s lying, Sarge! Building model sailboats is a hobby, not a special talent! I’ll bet he’s a sea turtle!”
Private Triggerhorn’s horn lit up as the tarp covering Zecora floated off, revealing the unconscious zebra to the column of soldiers.
“See! He’s a sea turtle ferrying Zebra spies!” Triggerhorn shouted.
They all instantly drew their guns and pointed them at Chilly Waters and Zecora.
“Well, I’ll be, Triggerhorn, you actually were right this time,” said the sergeant, his jaw agape in shock. “Take these two to the detention center!”