//------------------------------//
// The Road to Las Pegasus, Part 3 
// Story: Sunset Rekindled 
// by EldritchNexus 
//------------------------------//

"Attention, all passengers!" said a voice on the ship's loudspeakers. "Please meet on the front deck! Captain Baroque wishes to make a speech!"

Radiant Dawn, Sunset Shimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, Teddy, A.K. Yearling, Quick Shot, and the other ponies on the ship obeyed the announcement and went to the front deck. There, an earth pony in a white naval uniform was waiting.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, I am grateful that you all chose the S.S. Mirabella for your vacation." said Captain Baroque. "I trust your time on this ship so far has been satisfactory?"

There were cheers of agreement throughout the crowd.

"Then I trust you will all be grateful to know that we will be reaching our destination, the city of Las Pegasus, by tomorrow night!" continued the captain. "Travel brochures will be passed over to all passengers on the ship that will be getting off at Last Pegasus. In the meantime, enjoy the remainder of your time on our beautiful ship!"

And then the ponies all went back to their activities. As the night fell, Sunset and her friends got into their bunks in the passengers' quarters. Teddy and Radiant were both quick to fall asleep in their room, while Trixie and Sunset stayed up for a while in their own.

"I just can't wait until we actually get to Las Pegasus." said Sunset, to Trixie.

"Neither can I, Sunset." smiled Trixie.

Bathilda squeaked as she hung from a rack in the room.

"Oh yeah!" said Sunset. "I almost forgot about you! Are you hungry, girl?"

Bathilda squeaked.

"Aww, that's such a cute little bat!" said Trixie with a big smile.

She went up to it.

"Hey there, Bathilda." said Trixie. "You here to join in on the fun?"

Bathilda squeaked and opened her wings. She then proceeded to fly around the room, squeaking loudly.

"Bathilda, please! Hush!" said Sunset. "I'll feed you, okay? Just stay still!"

Bathilda kept on flying. Sunset's horn glowed, and Bathilda's head was covered in a bluish-green aura. It flew back to its perch.

"Good girl." said Sunset. "Here's a nice juicy tomato!"

She levitated a tomato up to Bathilda, who started nibbling on it happily.

"You're probably very restless, aren't you?" said Sunset. "Trixie, mind opening the window?"

"Can't you do--never mind." said Trixie, who telekinetically opened a nearby window.

"Go on, Bathilda." said Sunset. "You must be really cramped and bored. Why don't you have some fun? Fly around the ship for a little bit! Just don't spook anypony, alright?"

Bathilda nodded, flew out the window, and soared over the ship for a while.





It was half past midnight, and Mr. Blue, Mr. Red, and Mr. Yellow boarded the S.S. Mirabella from a small boat that sped alongside the vast cruise liner. Mr. Blue used his telekinesis to lift himself onto the deck, while Mr. Red carried Mr. Yellow up. Their boat's driver stayed alongside the ship. They snuck past all the sailors standing guard aboard the ship, and went inside to the lower levels, where the passengers' quarters could be found.

"She should be in one of these rooms." said Mr. Yellow.

"She better be." said Mr. Red. "We wasted a lot of time scoping out that house! We didn't even find anything even remotely valuable in there!"

"Let's make this quick, boys." said Mr. Blue. "So let's split up." he turned to Mr. Red and Mr. Yellow. "You two take the left corridor, I'll take the right."

"Got it!" said Mr. Yellow, turning to Mr. Red. "Let's go!"

Mr. Red and Mr. Yellow took the left turn, while Mr. Blue silently walked down the right turn, monitoring the doors as he went. He checked Door 19, but only an earth pony couple was found there. He went to Door 20, which was empty. Then he went to Door 21, where Sunset Shimmer and Trixie were sleeping. Mr. Blue took a moment to go inside. He looked at Sunset as she slept, and a sensation entered his mind, as if she reminded him of something from the past. Before he could figure out what it was, though, he remembered he had a mission. So he decided to part with a simple pat on Sunset's head.

"Sleep tight, kiddo." he said under his breath as he left.

Then he continued down the corridor, until an earth pony that clearly had too much to drink clumsily burst out of Door 26.

"And when you're lovin' me!" sang the pony, turning his head. "You love everything I would want to--wait, who are you?"

Mr. Blue's horn glowed, as did the earth pony's eyes for a brief moment.

"Go back to bed, sir." he said, plainly. "And stop drinking that stuff. It's bad for you!"

"Aye-aye! Heh heh heh." said the earth pony, backing into his room and knocking something over in the darkness. "Hic! I'm okay!"

Mr. Blue telekinetically shut the door, and continued down the corridor, before making a left turn, where he regrouped with Mr. Red and Mr. Yellow.

"She's not in any of the rooms we've check yet!" said Mr. Yellow.

"Nor in any of the rooms I checked." said Mr. Blue, looking back.

"Hey, guys." said Mr. Red. "I checked the guest lists. Apparently, the mare we're looking for is in Room 29, in the next corridor."

The three continued on until they came to Door 29. They knocked on the door, and faded into the shadows. They heard hoof-falls on the other side of the door, which opened up. It was A.K. Yearling. She looked outside to see who was knocking on her door, then shrugged. Just as she shut the door, a dark shape rushed in over her head. She turned around to see Mr. Red, who was laying on the bed with his right-hind leg sticking lazily in the air.

"Ah, A.K. Yearling." he said. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Well, this is my room!" said Yearling.

"Hmm...so it is!" said Mr. Red.

"Who are you, anyway?" asked Ms. Yearling. "Some kind of stalker?"

"Maybe." answered Mr. Red. "And there's two more waiting outside."

A.K. Yearling turned to look at the door.

"Uh-uh-uh." said Mr. Red. "Your business is with me, Ms. Yearling."

"So what do you want?" asked Yearling. "An autograph, perhaps?"

"No thank you." said Mr. Red. "I'm here for something you have in your possession."

"You mean the manuscript for my next book?" asked A.K. Yearling. "Sorry, but I don't see what kind of good it would do you. I only have five chapters written down!"

"Ms. Yearling, don't play dumb with me!" said Mr. Red. "I'm talking about the golden ring you acquired during your...ahem, travels."

"Golden ring?" repeated A.K. Yearling. "I don't know how you found out about it, but I'm afraid you've come all the way out here for nothing. I don't have it anymore!"

"Liar." said Mr. Red. "Our boss holds records on every artifact ever recorded. We know you have it!"

"But I don't!"

The door opened, and Mr. Yellow burst in. A.K. Yearling struck him as he leapt at her, but he shook it off and pinned her to the ground.

"We will find it, Ms. Yearling!" said Mr. Red. "You can't hide anything from the three of us for too long!"

Mr. Blue went inside, and spoke.

"And don't try pulling anything." he said. "I read every single one of your books! Yes, even 'Daring Do and the Storm Tower'!"

Mr. Blue's voice sounded so familiar to A.K. Yearling, but she couldn't quite place it. She tried to turn to look at him, but a rag was levitated and dropped over her eyes, and then tied like a blindfold. Thinking quickly, she broke free of Mr. Yellow's grip, and started thrashing blindly. Once or twice, she made her mark, striking Mr. Yellow--or was it Mr. Red?-- in the face, before she was stunned by Mr. Blue's magic.

"Ms. Yearling, why must you be so difficult with us?" asked Mr. Blue. "We just want Mr. Summerset to have what he wants!"

"Dead end, boys." said Mr. Red. "I've searched all over her room, and the ring's nowhere in here. Looks like we really did come all this way for nothing! Bye, Ms. Yearling! Looking forward to reading your next book!"

"Wait! Stop!" A.K. Yearling shouted. "Get back here now! This isn't over!"

But it was too late, the three mysterious stallions disappeared from the ship. A pair of sailors that were patrolling the corridors came inside and helped Ms. Yearling back up, removing her blindfold.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" one asked. "Should we get you to the infirmary?"

"No, I'm alright." said Yearling. "Thank you!"

She looked around the room to make if anything was missing. But to her surprise, everything was right where they should've been, and only a couple pieces of furniture were knocked over.

"What the heck happened in here?" asked the second sailor.

"A trio of stallions came in here and attacked me." said Yearling.

"What did they look like?" asked the first sailor.

"Well, one was a pegasus in red, another was an earth pony in yellow, and--although I didn't see him--a unicorn. They caught me completely off-guard, and right when I was about to fall asleep."

"Whoever these guys are, we'll let Captain Baroque know about them straight away!" said the second sailor.

"Fine, but I'd prefer if you kept this incident a secret from the other passengers, okay?" said Yearling.

"Why's that?" asked the first sailor.

"Because this is an isolated incident, and it ought to be treated as such." said Yearling. "Nothing was broken or stolen, and I barely received any injuries. And letting word go around of an attack on this cruise liner would create an unnecessary panic that could make everything too confusing and disruptive for everypony on board."

"But, we--" said the second sailor.

"Listen, gentlecolts." said A.K. Yearling. "You two keep quiet about this with the other passengers on-board, and I'll send you both copies of my next book for free, as soon as I'm finished with it. Deal?"

"Deal!" said the first sailor. "My daughter loves your books! She'll be so happy with me."

"We're still gonna tell the captain about this, okay?" said the second sailor.

"Go ahead." said Yearling.

As soon as the two sailors left to report to the captain, Yearling sat on her bed.

"I can't believe it!" she muttered to herself. "I can't believe they just got away with assaulting me! And they still got away empty-hooved! I feel so embarassed! Whoever they were, they're going down! And if Summerset's really the guy who set them on me, then he's gonna have a lot to answer for when we reach Las Pegasus!"