A Survivor Is Born

by Delta 727

Chapter 1: Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage!

I almost forgot to wake up this morning. I was up much later than I'd planned to be last night.

Last night was our pack-and-prep night. Me and the crew spent hours loading up the Endeavor with supplies and equipment, since we were going on yet another "endeavor". We were playfully telling each other that all night. My best friend, Aura, was right by my side the whole night. She knew that thinking of our endeavors made me miss my father, but she was there every step of the way to make sure I knew he was watching us to this day. She always knows how to make me smile.

She's a tall unicorn mare, but not as tall as me. She has a pink mane with a light blue coat, green eyes, and the Northern Lights as her cutie mark. She's always wearing an amulet like mine, but hers is a blue gemstone, while mine is green. And for years, she's been like a sister to me, which means she loved my father as much as I did, and he loved her.

Our navigator and captain, Coral, always said we were inseparable. And we always tell him that he is inseparable with his maps. Coral is a pegasus stallion, who is about three-fourths the size of me, with a dark brown coat and a cream-colored mane, with pale brown eyes, and a map as a cutie mark. Ever since he was young, he'd loved mapping things out. He even has a sheet of paper on his cork board in the navigation room with an old drawing of a map of his house that he drew in crayon. He carried it everywhere he went, and had it memorized for as long as I can remember. Now, it's hung up with several other maps that he's made. Every new endeavor, he makes a new map of the location after we get back to the ship. He doesn't have to draw it as he goes along. He can just memorize an area, take a few notes, and map it out exactly as it was. And his number one rule is to "never touch his maps". So Aura and I rearranged his maps once, and he flipped out. We still laugh about it to this day.

Our technician is an Earth pony stallion named Hard Wire, Wire for short. He's a little taller than Coral, almost as tall as Aura. He has a black coat with an orange mane, orange eyes, round bifocal glasses (that he's constantly adjusting), and a computer chip for a cutie mark. He loves technology like Coral loves maps. If it's powered by electricity, he knows what it does and how to fix it. Sometimes, the rest of us have a hard time understanding what he's saying, but he's the kind of pony you want to have around when something malfunctions. He can be a bit twitchy at times, but he's definitely the brains on board the Endeavor.

And our last crew member, our cook, is Crawfish. We call him Craw. He's a burly Earth pony stallion, standing almost as tall as me, with a thick frame and plenty of muscle to go with it. He has an orange coat with a red mane, but soft pink eyes, and two crossed cutlery knives for a cutie mark. He can be a big softie on the inside, but he's definitely a pony who can hold his own. That, and make at least thirteen different dishes with nothing but daisies and his spice cabinet. And without him, Coral would probably have starved to death from refusing to eat while he was working, which was always. Craw can be very convincing.

Yes, there's only five of us, but that's all we need. My father taught all of us how everything works, when it should work, and what to do if it doesn't. What usually takes a crew of twenty is done by only five. And yet, everything runs smoothly.

And, as I said, I nearly forgot to wake up this morning from how late we'd been loading it up. Our next endeavor was a two week journey across the ocean from the port of Baltimare to an area of unexplored Badlands where bandits are supposedly looking for an ancient artifact from way back when Celestia and Luna were just being fit for their crowns.

And if Bandits wanted to get their hooves on it, then so did I.

We were up with the birds that morning, when there was just enough light to see. When I got there, late, Aura was waiting for me, a teasing smile on her face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, returning the smile.

Aura gave me a gentle shove on my chest. "You're late, Goldy!" She giggled. "I almost had to send Craw to come drag you outta bed!"

"Oh, come on, now," I replied. "You know Craw likes me the best."

Aura rolled her eyes. "Just because he gives you the biggest portions at mealtime doesn't mean he likes you."

I put on my best innocent look, and said, "What wrong with that? I'm a gwowing fiwwy!"

Aura giggled. She couldn't help herself. I knew how to push her buttons, but she never got angry with me. I was too smart for her.

"Well, if you're done acting like a foal, Coral's waiting for us up top." Aura turned around toward the gangplank.

"Oh, please," I said as I followed. "I've known you since we were foals, and I was always the more mature one!"

She shot a sideways glance at me, said, "Don't lose your balance!", and tried to kick my leg out from under me.

I didn't move an inch. She never could manage to get the best of me. I knew her too well.

"You're really not helping your point," I giggled as I swept her leg out from under her. She squeaked, falling off her hooves, and almost hit the ground before I grabbed her hoof to keep her up. "Swift and agile," I said. "Can you say the same?"

She pulled herself back onto her hooves, and playfully pushed my hoof away. "One of these days, I'm gonna catch you off guard, and you'll never hear the end of it."

I smiled. "Good luck, Aura. You'll need it."

"Move it along, you two!" Coral called down at us from the gangplank. "You're late as it is!" He turned away and trotted back onto the deck, and Aura and I followed, giggling like we were foals again.

---

About ten minutes later, the crew and I all met at the cockpit to set sail. Coral and Wire were at the controls, while Aura, Craw, and I kept a safe distance.

"You two do not have to keep away from the controls," Wire said. "I can assure you, it's perfectly safe with us."

"It's just you being at the controls that rubs us the wrong way," Craw chuckled.

Wire rolled his eyes, adjusting his glasses. "Oh, and I'm sure you feel so much safer around hot ovens and boiling water."

"Better to cook with heat than to be cooked with electricity!" Craw chuckled again, giving me a nudge with his leg.

I decided to break it up. "Alright, you two. You both know we wouldn't survive without either one of you. Coral, on the other hoof..."

Coral raised a hoof, not looking up from the controls. "Ap, ap, ap! Don't even start with me, young lady." The rest of us all laughed, and I was pretty sure I saw him smile sarcastically.

"Alright, let's get this bucket of bolts moving!" Aura said eagerly.

"We're not ready yet," Coral said.

Aura gave me a nudge with her hoof, smiling cleverly. "How about now?"

"No."

I smiled, understanding the joke. "How about now?" I said.

"No, Compass," Coral replied.

I nudged Craw with my hoof, passing on the joke. He smiled. "How 'bout now?"

Coral threw up his hooves. "No! We are not ready to take off! Now please let me work!"

The room fell silent, but Craw, Aura and I all had huge grins on our faces.

Wire glanced to his left at Coral, his eyes sparkling in humor. "How about now?" he said.

We all had to stop laughing while we pried Coral from Wire's neck.

---

Finally, when the crew had all calmed down and stopped laughing, we were ready to set sail.

After Coral punched in the coordinates for the autopilot, we all made our way to the top deck. The skies were clear, seagulls flew over the bay, and several ponies had gathered on shore to see us off. We all stood on the stern, waving at them as the ship pulled away from the dock and into the sea.

While we were all still waving, I said, "Well, we're off. On to our next endeavor, huh?"

"And let's make this one the best we'll ever have!" Aura replied.

"They're all the best," Craw said. "Just matters how much better it is than the last, eh?"

"And if everything keeps running smoothly," Coral said.

Wire chimed in last. "And as long as you don't forget your precious maps!" Coral shot him a glance, but he was smiling.

"Or that you don't forget your mechanical marefriend," Coral shot back humorously.

And with that, we left port, laughing our troubles away, as our next endeavor was in sight.

---

Day One

Everything has gone as well as we could hope for. The crew's happy, the ship's running smoothly, and we have everything we need. What more can we ask for? But we can't let our troubles leave our minds yet. We still have challenges ahead, but we'll barrel through them like we always have. We're a team, and we get the job done, and bring home a souvenir every time. I'm very proud of my friends. I wouldn't be here without them. Best of luck, and I hope you're watching, Daddy.

~ Golden Compass