//------------------------------//
// Ch18 Allen's Final Mission 
// Story: Limitless Skies 
// by Priceless911 
//------------------------------//

                Allen laid under his plane as he replaced the final bolt on the landing gear. As he did, he started to hear an odd squeaking sound so he looked to his side to see a foal unicorn as she tapped away on the tire’s rubber with a toy hammer. Smiling at the focused expression on the little filly’s face, Allen went back to his work as the infant continued hitting the wheel with a squeak coming from the hammer she used with every tap. As the two continued working, Derpy came out and smiled, “There you are Dinky, I was wondering where you wandered off to.”

As her mother approached, the infant unicorn looked up at her as the corner of her mouth revealed a smile from behind the little filly’s pacifier. As the filly looked back at what she was hammering on, her expression became serious again, as Allen replied, “She’s been helping me fix this wheel. I guess she wants to make sure it will hold for the next time I have to land.”
Derpy smiled as she replied, “Or she wants you to come inside so she is helping you finish your work faster.”

Allen smiled as he looked at his daughter, “Is that it Dinky? Do you want me to finish so I can come inside?”
The little filly looked at her dad and nodded her head as Allen replied, “Well you’re in luck, thanks to your help. I'm finished right about… now.”
As Allen finished tightening the final bolt, he laid his wrench on the ground as he wiped the sweat from his brow, and climbed out from under the aircraft. As he did that, Dinky laid her toy hammer on the ground, and wiped her head in the same way as she held up her hooves towards her father, asking to be picked up.

When Allen saw this he could only smiled as he picked up the little unicorn and put her on his shoulders as he smiled, “Alright, I guess it’s time to go inside now. As the little filly held onto her father’s neck, Allen trotted to Derpy as she smiled, “Why were you working on the plane anyways? Wasn’t it perfectly fine before you came out here?”
Allen shook his head, “The rubber on the wheels was a little too worn. It just needed replacing.”
As Allen looked back at his plane, he smiled, “We went through a lot with this plane. And even though it only crashed once about five years ago, I’m still grateful I achieved my dream with it.”

All of a sudden, a voice came from the shadows, “And what a dream right? A flying earth pony, still can’t believe I was there to fly alongside him.”
Both Allen and Derpy looked towards the shadows as a Cloaked mare emerged carrying a scythe. As soon as the mare was seen Allen smiled, “Hey Silvia, it’s been a while. Or should I call you Boss?”
Silvia put the hood on her cloak down as she replied, “Member or not, you can call me whatever you want Allen. It’s good to see you, Allen, Derpy, and little Dinky Doo too.”

The little Filly looked at Silvia with glee as a smile could be seen just outside of her pacifier. As Silvia smiled back, she turned to the plane as she spoke, “I see you touched up on the Cutter’s Emblem. It looks clearer than last time I saw it.”
Allen replied, “Well after the sand storm it went through in the last mission it needed touching up on. Luckily the Ibex King got his message though.”
Silvia smiled, “And much sooner than expected too.”
Though Silvia continued to look at the plane, Derpy spoke with a little worry in her tone, “This isn’t a simple visit is it?”

Silvia sighed, as she replied, “No… I'm sorry but it isn’t. I'm afraid I have another mission for you Allen.”
Derpy looked at Allen in disappointment as he Replied, “Sure… what do you need? Keep in mind that I'm not an assassin.”
Silvia replied, “No… it’s not an assassination mission, I only want you to speak with a Zebra in Zebrica.”
“A zebra?”
She nodded her head as Silvia continued, “Yes, in the Northern Tribes of Zebrica, I heard word of a zebra meditating day in and day out as she waits for a message from her ancestor. I want you to go there and speak with her to find out just what message she is trying to receive.”

Allen gave Silvia a funny look as he asked, “Uh… you serious?”
Silvia nodded her head as she replied, “Yes… keep in mind that her ancestor is Chief Jumb Rafi.”
Allen recognized the name, “You mean the Chief that assisted Commander Bolt’s attack on Canterlot a thousand years ago?”
Silvia nodded her head, “The very same. I don’t know what message she should be receiving from Chief Rafi, but I'm sure it has something to do with Nightmare Moon’s return.”

Allen thought to himself as he replied, “And with her return being less than twenty months from now, we would need to know that message before she got back to do anything about it.”
Silvia nodded her head, “Exactly, Chief Rafi was known for being a peace loving stallion, but we can’t take a risk like that.”
Allen nodded his head as he replied, “Agreed, I can leave first thing in the morning.”
Silvia smiled as she replied, “That’s sounds good. And even though I'm due back in Canterlot tonight, I think the Cutters will be able to survive one night without me.

Derpy asked, “What about Octavia?”
Silvia replied, “Octi and I aren’t really together anymore. Lately she has been with Vinyl Scratch so I’ve just been staying out of the way. Besides, we had our fun while it lasted. I think it’s good that we move on.”
Allen nodded his head, “I'm sorry to hear that. Well why don’t we go inside and catch up a little, unless you managed to break your wings again?”
Silvia sighed in hopelessness as she raised her damaged prosthetic wings up out from under cloak, “I can’t get anything past you can I?”
Allen smiled, “We just know you too well. Anyway, let’s get to work on them right away. Of course I'll need some help.”
Allen turned his head back and looked at Dinky who was sitting on his shoulders as she clapped her hooved in joy at the idea.

That night, Allen worked on Silvia’s wings as the three talks about all that had happened since they last saw each other. The next morning with Dinky still sleeping inside, Allen, Silva and Derpy went outside as they all three pushed the plane onto the dirt runway that used to be a field. Then as Allen climbed into the cockpit, he spoke, “She’s fueled up and ready to go. So should I just meet up at the Northern Tribes then?”
Silvia nodded her head, “We should have a contact in the village who will meet with you. He will lead you to the chief so you don’t have to worry about getting lost”
Allen smiled as he replied, “Alright, not a problem boss.”

As Derpy approached the side of the aircraft, she gave him his goggles as she spoke, “Allen… be careful. And please hurry back.”
As Allen looked at the nervous expression on Derpy’s face, he smiled as he took his goggles from her and replied, “Derpy… I'll be back as fast as I can. Promise…”
Derpy smiled as Allen pressed a switch on his console, which started up the engine on the biplane. Then as Allen put his goggles on, he looked at both Derpy and Silvia as he waved one last time before increasing the throttle on his plane, and taking off down the runway before taking to the sky.

Watching the plane take to the sky like so many times before, Derpy smiled as she mumbled to herself, “I love you Allen.”
When the plane was finally out of sight, Silvia put the hood on her cloak overhead head as she spoke, “Don’t worry Derpy… as soon as Allen links up with our contact in Zebrica, I'll come by and let you know he made it there safely. Until then, I better get back. I’m waiting on a report from Shade and the bat pony clan in Saddle Arabia. I’ll see you later Derpy, and tell Dinky I said bye.”
Derpy smiled as she replied, “Okay Silvia, I'll see you next time you visit.”

With that said, the two parted ways as they did many times before. But even though Derpy Expected Allen’s plane to appear over the horizon within the next few days… It never returned. Days went by, then weeks, then months, and before they knew it. The thousandth year of the Summer Sun Festival came, and with it, the return of Nightmare Moon, and Commander Bolt. But that very night before anypony seemed to notice their return, Both Commander Bolt and Nightmare Moon were both defeated. After that, everything seemed to go back to normal, that is, everything except one thing.

One day, Derpy sat on the hillside that Allen and her used to test his failed experiments. As they sat there, Derpy started to remember everything that happened that first experiment that nearly killed him, the day he accidently saved Silva’s life and their journey that took them far beyond anything they had ever seen before. As she remembered the past with tears rolling down her face, a young filly trotted up behind her as she spoke, “Um… Mommy?”
Quickly realizing who was behind her, Derpy quickly wiped away her tears as she spoke, “Oh… Dinky… um… how was school?”

Knowing that her mother was thinking about a sensitive subject, she replied, “It um… it was great. Today Ms. Cheerilee brought up a pop quiz and I got a one hundred on it.”
Derpy smiled, “You did? That’s great, I'm so proud of you.”
Dinky smiled with joy, as she hesitated with her next words, “Well… since I did good and all… and since you’re off work early today… I don’t know… maybe we could um… go get something special… you know, since I did do good and all…”
Derpy smiled as she replied, “Alright, alright I can take a hint. After this we can go to Sugar Cube Corner for a treat.”

Hearing what she wanted to, Dinky started jumping with joy as she called out, “Yay! We get to get a treat!”
Derpy smiled at the joy her daughter was expressing, but then all of a sudden, Dinky stopped jumping as she quickly looked towards a tree that was nearby. Curious as to what she was looking at, Derpy spoke, “Dinky? What is it?”
Dinky replied, “Somepony’s there…”
As Derpy looked at the tree, a cloaked mare stepped out from behind the tree as she spoke, “Can’t get by you can I Dinky?”

As soon as the two saw the cloaked figure, dinky called to her, “Aunt Silly! I thought that was you.”
Silvia smiled as she replied, “Yep, no fooling you can I, you definitely got his intellect don’t ya?”
Dinky smiled, “Yea… but I get my smarts from mommy.”
Silvia looked at Derpy as she continued, “Do you now… that’s good to know, she is the smartest mare I know. Hey Derpy… how are things going?”
Derpy smiled slightly as she replied, “I'm fine Silvia… how about you?”
Silvia smiled, “I'm good.”

Knowing there was a little tension in the air, Dinky spoke “Hey Aunt Silly! We will be going to Sugar Cube Corner after this! Wanna go too?”
Silvia smiled as she replied, “Thanks… but I gotta pass on this one, I'm only stopping by for a quick visit.”
Dinky pouted as she replied, “Aww… but you just got here…”
Derpy asked, “Passing through on Cutters business?”
Silvia shook her head, “Nope, in fact the Cutters disbanded just last week.”
Derpy was shocked, “What?... but what about Equestria’s safety?”

Silvia trotted to the edge of the cliff as she looked down, “With Princess Luna controlling the night, and Princess Celestia controlling the day, things in the kingdom couldn’t be safer. Nopony in their right mind would ever think of attacking a kingdom with two Alicorns on watch, not to mention Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony. Speaking of which I heard she moved into Ponyville shortly after the whole Nightmare Moon incident.”
Derpy smiled, “yea, and since then she seemed to become a lot nicer then when we met her in Canterlot. By the way, I know that Twilight and her friends took care of Nightmare Moon, but did you and The Cutters take care of Commander Bolt?”

Silvia shook her head, “No, when she returned, Princess Celestia came to the Cutters Haven and refused to get involved with either of them. She also requested that we stay out of it too, so that’s what we did. According to rumors, Commander Bolt was killed by Nightmare Moon that night shortly before she came to Ponyville. However, no body was found, and no real evidence other than a bloody spear was ever recovered, so I can’t honestly say he is dead. But since there isn’t anything to prove otherwise, we just decided to let it go and forget about him.”
Derpy though to herself, “Hmm… so if there is no more Cutters, then what about the Cutters Haven?”

Silvia smiled as she replied, “We gave it to Princess Luna. In fact, she ordered the nullification of the bat pony restrictions and turned the Haven into a new bat colony. And wouldn’t you know it; Shade is now the leader of that colony.”
Derpy smiled “Wow, that’s pretty neat. It sounds like you completed your dream too.”
Silvia smiled, “I did, the bat ponies and surface ponies are now completely equal. Sometimes I wish my mom could be here to see it.”
Derpy smiled as she replied, “I'm sure she would be proud … so… now with the Cutters being broken up and all… what will you do?”
Silvia replied in a slightly depressed tone, “First I'm gonna get thing settled with the disbanded Cutters… then… I'm gonna go to the coast and join the search parties.”

Derpy was a little surprised as she replied, “the search parties?...”
Silvia looked at her friend and continued, “Yea… just because the Cutters are no more, doesn’t mean we will stop searching. I gave them all specific instructions. We will never stop searching until you give the word… but… if you do decide to move on, then…”
Derpy turned away as she spoke in an insulted way, “No!... I won’t give up on him that easily. Allen will come back… I know it. He said so himself. He promised me that he would come home as quickly as possible. And it’s like he said… he always keeps his promises, especially if they are to me. Allen will come home… I… I know it…”

Seeing tears start to build up in Derpy’s eyes, Silvia sighed with disappointment as she replied, “I know… but I just don’t want you to get your hopes up… it’s been over two years, and he never even met up with the contact in Zebrica. I want to believe that he is alright and on his way home too… but I ju…”
Derpy glared at Silvia with tears rolling down her face, “He will come home!!! I know it!!!”
As both Silvia and Dinky flinched at Derpy’s outburst, Silvia smiled peacefully as she replied, “alright… if you say he will, then I'm sure of it. Sometimes I wish I still had the hope you have for him. It would make this easier for me to do.”
Derpy looked down in disappointment as she realized her outburst. As Derpy hid her face in shame, Dinky trotted up to her mother and put her hoof on her mother’s elbow, “M-mommy?... I think daddy will come home too. If he promised, then I know he will. Cuz, when you make a promise, you’re supposed to keep it… right Aunt Silly?”

Silvia looked at the fillies expression as she was asked that question, then she smiled as she replied, “You’re right Dinky. Ponies must keep their promises! And if Allen promised, then I know he’ll be back.”
Derpy wiped the tears from her eyes as she replied, “sorry… I didn’t mean to…”
Silvia smiled, “It’s alright Derpy. I know how much you care about him. And if it were me, I would have gotten angry too. We’ll find him… don’t you worry. And when we do, we’ll gather everypony together and celebrate. Octavia, Paladin, even Shade.”
Derpy smiled with joy as she replied, “thanks Silvia… hearing you say that really cheers me up.”
Silvia smiled, “well we are friends after all. If we didn’t have each other’s backs back then, then who knows where we would be today. Those of us who are different have to stick together right?”
Derpy smiled, “of course we do.”

As Silvia smiled at Derpy’s reply, she turned back towards the road as she spoke, “well, I gotta get back to the Equestrian Caverns for some business. I guess I'll see you around Derpy. Take care of yourself Dinky.”
Derpy smiled, “stay safe Silvia. And feel free to come by and visit anytime.”
Silvia smiled as she turned around and started trotting away. As she did, Dinky called out, “Bye Aunt Silly!!!”
Before Silvia was out of sight, she turned around and waved to the two before continuing onto the road and leaving their sight. 

Once Silvia was gone, Derpy looked back into the ravine and mumbled, “Please take care of yourself Silvia… when Allen comes home… we’ll all get together… just like old times.”
Just then without hearing her mother’s words, Dinky asked, “um… mommy? You said something about Twilight being nicer now then she used to be… but when did you meet her before?”
Derpy was a little surprised, “you mean I never told you that story?”
Dinky shook her head, “nah-uh.”

Derpy replied as she turned towards the road, “Well since it will take a while before we get to Sugar Cube Corner, I might as well tell you the story. I think it started about eight years ago. Your father just finished putting together what we thought would be the very first airplane, but sadly… it never flew-“
Derpy and her daughter made their way to Sugar Cube Corner. As they did, Derpy told the tale of her most memorable journey. A story of debts and saviors, friends and enemies, secrets and organizations, and how a simple earth pony, a flightless bat pony, and a pegasus who was called stupid, achieved the impossible, and proved to the world, that some things are truly Limitless.



Epilogue
The Captain, the Wanderer, and the Messenger

“You better be pullin’ me leg!”
The angry ship captain made his way across the deck of his ship as the navigator followed, “It’s like I said Cap’n, we aren’t where we should be. I’ve gone over these charts a number a times but they still say we should be somewhere inland.”
The captain looked out into the horizon as he replied, “Inland? Does it look like we be inland to you Mr. Point?”
The old stallion shook his head, “no sir… but I’ve been navigatin’ since you were in diapers, so you should know that it’s odd for me to be wrong.”

The annoyed captain trotted up the stairs onto the quarterdeck where his helmscolt stood as he looked over the rest of his ship. As he looked over his crew trying to figure out what to do next, he could see a cloaked pegasus climb onto the main deck as he approached the edge of the railing and looked into the sea. As the captain looked at the stallion, he replied to his navigator, “Maybe we need a land lubbers help in this matter.”
The navigator gave his captain a confused look as the captain waved to the cloaked pony, “Hey! Mr. Wanderer! Can you come here for a second?”
Seeing the captain wave to him, the cloaked stallion flew to the quarterdeck as he landed next to the navigator and replied, “Sure captain, what do you need?”

The ship’s captain looked at the sea charts that were stretched over a barrel as he spoke, “Me navigator thinks that we have run ashore… but as you can see we be far from it. I'm most cases I trust the intuition of me navigator, but perhaps in this situation, you could help determine where we be?”
The cloaked stallion looked at the sea chart in complete confusion as he replied, “Well… I don’t know much about sea charts… but I think I might know why we are off course. Did you take the tide into account?”
Pin Point gave the stallion a dull look as he replied, “Corse I did, a good navigator always takes the tide into count.”

The dark stallion put his hoof on his chin as he continued, “Luna’s tide?...”
both the captain and Pin Point gave the cloaked stallion a curious look, as he replied, “There’s a difference?”
The pegasus replied, “Yes, remember that Princess Luna is in control of the moon now, so the nights are different than Princess Celestia’s”
the captain asked, “Really? How so?”
The pegasus looked out into the sea in depression as he replied, “Trust me… if anypony in this world knows the beauty of Luna’s nights… it’s me…”

As the cloaked stallion looked into the horizon, the ship’s captain started to speak, “Just who exactly are yo…”
“CAP’N SAIL!!!”
The captain looked to the pony in the crows nest, “What is it Mr. Keg”
The earth pony in the crow’s nest replied, “I see land of the starboard bow.”
The Captain took out his spyglass, as he looked into the direction that Powder Keg told him, “an Island?”
“Aye Cap’n, Looks to be uninhabited to me!”
As the captain looked at the island, Pin Point looked back at the sea chart as he pointed to an island on the map, “Since we’re off the coast of Equestria, that island must be here. Since we now know where we are, I can plot a course to New Foalranes and have us there before dusk.”

As the captain looked at the island, he could see something on the beach as he mumbled to himself, “what in blue blazes? Helmscolt! Bring her into that island!”
“Ayi Aye Cap’n!”
Then the captain looked at Pin Point and continued, “Mr. Point! Ready a boat to go ashore. I think I see somethin’ on the beach that I ain’t seen in little under a decade.”
Pin Point gave Captain Sail a funny look, “Somethin’ on the beach? What is it Cap’n?”
Captain Sail put his spyglass away as he replied, “I can’t say… but I want to get a closer look at it before we carry on.”

As the captain stepped off the quarterdeck and onto the main deck the cloaked stallion asked, “Captain? You want me to go too?”
The captain shook his head, “nah, ya did enough by helpin’ me navigator. Since ya be a guest in this voyage, I won’t be hasslin’ ya for help. Just stay on the ship and let me and me crew handle this.”
With that said, the captain went with a few of his crew mates and finished getting a small lifeboat ready as the Caravel made its way towards the small island. After reaching the shore, Captain Sail, Powder Keg, and another sailor made their way to the beach on the rowboat.

Once their hooves were on land, Captain Sail made his way towards the large object he saw through his spyglass. As the three approached the object, Captain Sail smiled, “Well blow me down… It is. It’s that flyin’ contraption that I saw a number of years ago. Wonder what its doin’ all the way out here.”
Powder Keg pointed at the wing as he spoke, “Cap’n Sail! Look here!”
As the captain looked at the emblem on the wing of the plane he nodded his head, “Well look what we happen to stumble across, I ain’t seen that mark in many a year.”

With his rifle stretched across his back, Powder Keg spoke, “You and me both Cap’n.”
The third Sailor spoke as he looked at the emblem in confusion “Cap’n? I’ve seen that emblem before, but I don’t know what it means. What is it?”
Captain Sail replied, “It be the mark of the Devil herself. One that even I in my pirate years, dare not to cross.”
All of a sudden a voice came from behind the aircraft, “C-captain?... so… am I to understand that you’re the captain of that ship there?”

Surprised by the unexpected voice, the three ponies readied themselves as Allen stepped out from behind the aircraft with barley enough strength to carry himself. Immediately jumping to conclusions, Powder Keg readied his rifle with his hoof on the firing lever as he spoke, “Aye! But what business would it be to the likes of you!?”
Allen held his stance as Captain Sail yelled to his sailor, “Put that pea shooter down ya dern fool! Don’t ya realize you be pointin your weapon at a member of the Cutters! If he wanted to, he could kill ya three times over before your bullet could even graze his shadow!”

Powder Keg became nervous after hearing his captains warning, “Wh-what?...”
Allen waved his hoof in the air as he replied, “You got it all wrong Captain. I am a member of the Cutters but I’m only a messenger… not an assassin. Well, unless you gave me a bridge and a wire.”
As Powder Keg lowered his rifle, Captain Sail Replied, “Really?, and what be the message you be delivering Mr. Messenger?”
Allen replied, “That captain… I can’t say… but I'm afraid I’ve failed this mission. Could I trouble you for a ride back to Equestria?... and Perhaps some food to go with it?...”
Both Powder Keg and the third sailor looked at their Captain as he replied, “First let me ask you somethin’ Mr. Messenger… It’s about your boss, Mrs. Jasmin Mist… How is she?”

Remembering the name, Allen replied as he sat his fatigue body against his plane, “she’s dead… she died a long time ago.”
The captain removed his hat and rubbed his head in disappointment as he replied, “Well, that’d be a darn shame. Since I owed her a mighty debt. I'll agree to take ya as far as New Foalranes, and I'll even lend ya enough food and bits to make the journey as far as Canterlot if needed. It’s the least I can do for a member of The Reapers crew. But I'm afraid your flyin’ contraption can’t come. We ain’t got the space on Annabelle for somethin of that size.”
Allen smiled as he put his hoof on the aircraft and replied, “That’s fine captain… I think it’s probably best to leave it anyway. What’s really important is waiting for me back at home.”

The captain nodded his head as he turned back to the lifeboat, “A family colt huh… well far be it for me to keep ya from your family. You have permission to come aboard Annabelle so let’s quit yappin and get too it. We’re behind schedule as is.”
Allen nodded his head as he started following Captain Sail, “I couldn’t agree more captain. By the way… how did you know this was a flying machine?”
Captain Sail Smiled, “let’s just say, a little birdie showed me, a long time ago.”
Allen smiled, “I thought I’ve seen that ship before.”

With nothing more to say to the ship’s captain, Allen, and the rest of the crew mates climbed back into the life Boat and rowed back towards the Annabelle.”
When they arrived, Captain Sail, and his crewmates climbed up the rope ladder first leaving Allen in the lifeboat as he looked towards the island for the last time. When the three were on the main deck of the ship, the captain called down, “You coming Mr. Messenger?”
Allen looked up as he replied, “yes captain… sorry.”

Moving slowly out of fatigue, Allen climbed up the rope ladder toward the main deck of the ship. However as he reached for the last step of the ladder, one of his hind hooves slipped as Allen lost his grip and began to fall. Luckily, just before he could fall more than a foot, another hoof reached down and caught his as two words rang out, “Got ya!”
Curious as to who caught him, Allen looked up at the face of a cloaked stallion as the pony spoke, “Need a hoof? From the way you look, you need about four.”
Looking at the face of the wondering stallion, Allen replied, “Yea… I guess I do… thanks.”
The cloaked stallion replied as he pulled Allen onto the deck, “No Problem, it looks like you needed the help anyways.”

As Allen climbed onto the deck and sat down to catch his breath, and thought about the cloak that the wandering stallion was wearing, “You here to find me?”
The stallion shook his head, “nope… just hitching a ride north.”
“Hitching a ride… you mean Silvia didn’t send you?”
The cloaked stallion shook his head, “nope… I don’t think I know a Silvia you must have me confused with somepony else.”
Worried he might say the wrong thing Allen replied, “Ok… my mistake.”
With that said, the stallion looked over the edge of the ship as he asked, “so how long were you trapped out here anyways?”

Allen replied with a worried tone, “about two years… I hope nothing bad happened to my family while I was gone.”
The wanderer replied, “I wouldn’t worry about that. Two years is nothing considering your still alive and all.”
Allen smiled, “well I wouldn’t call it nothing… but I am alive. I was grateful to find food on that island. But bananas and coconuts get old really fast.”
The wanderer smiled, “yea… I bet you could use a change from that routine… here why don’t you try this.”

With that said, the wanderer lifted his cloak to pull an apple from his saddlebag. As he did, Allen caught a good look of the pony’s cutiemark. A black star with a cloud and lighting… one he knew all too well. As he looked at the pegasus in shock, the pony held out an apple as he smiled, “it isn’t much, but it beats coconuts doesn’t it?”
Allen took the apple as he looked at the pony’s face and focused on the yellow and black mane and the scar on his left ear, ‘Who… I mean… are you?...”
“Mr. Bolt! If you would be so kind as to help my crew haul in the lifeboat, I would be happy to overlook you taken up space on my deck while me crew is trying to get you where you asked to go.”

Taking the hint, the wanderer smiled, “Whatever you say captain!”
Then the pegasus looked back at Allen and smiled, “we’ll talk later. See ya.”
With those words, the wandering pegasus approached the crew who were pulling the lifeboat out of the water as the captain called to Allen, “Mr. Messenger? You can come up here with me if ya want, I'm sure you would like to take a load off considering you been marooned for so long.”
Allen nodded his head as he climbed up the steps onto the quarterdeck. As he reached the captain, one of the crewmates pulled up a chair as the captain spoke, “take a seat Cutter. I’m sure you can use it.”
As Allen sat in the chair he asked, “that wanderer… who is he?”

The captain looked onto the main deck at the dark stallion, as he replied, “Can’t say I know, two weeks ago he comes crashin’ into me ship somewhere in the Crystal Sea, then three days ago, he asked me for a ride up north. Now bein’ a small transport vessel it’d be rude to turn down a payin’ customer, but at least he be willin’ to work when the time comes. You’d be surprised how many lubbers wouldn’t even take the time to move a barrel or pull a rope. But enough about him, Surely you’re from inland Equestria am I right? Where abouts are ya headed after I drop ya in New Foalranes?”

Allen replied, “Ponyville… there are a couple of ponies that are very special to me there.”
Captain Sail smiled, “Aye, there be nothin’ better for any young colt. Well don’t ya worry yourself none, I'll get ya to New Foalranes as quick as I can, and I'll even lend ya the bits to get ya the rest of the way by train. I owed Jasmin Mist that much.”
Allen smiled, “Thanks captain, but how do you know her anyway?”.”
Captain Sail smiled, “well let’s just say she saved me from standin’ on the wrong side of a lit cannon. Anyways enough about me old swashbucklin’ days. Mr. Point! You know what to do. Give the order.”
Pin Point smiled, “Aye Aye Cap’n! ALL HOOVES TO STATION! UNMASK THE SAILS! Helmscolt, hard to port, our heading be northwest”
the helmscolt nodded his head, “Aye Sir! Heading northwest to New Foalranes!”

The captain smiled as he called to his crew, “Make way gents! We have a stallion who aims to see home!”
Allen mumbled to himself quietly as he added to the captains words, “And a promise to keep.”
with nopony hearing his addition to the captains words, Allen looked into the horizon, as the small caravel came about and started heading northwest, delivering the shipwrecked inventor, the wandering stallion, the Captain, and his crew, to their next destination.