Of The Last Millennium

by BlndDog

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The fog was thick enough to drown in, and fishy enough to make a seal gag. The beam from the lighthouse did not penetrate five feet, and was nothing more than a diffuse glow by the time it reached the dock.

Scootaloo pulled in her cloak and huddled closer to Gari. She could barely make out Rainbow Dash’s hooves above her. Closer to shore Princess Luna and her guards were indistinct shadows. The Princess herself was stooping beneath a drab black cloak; in a town full of strange travelers, nopony would have given her a second glance.

“What time is it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Not yet five o’clock,” Gari replied.

“Gah!” Rainbow Dash growled, irritably brushing the dew off her mane and onto the three cloaked ponies below. “I can’t see my own hooves! How is a ship supposed to dock in this fog?”

“On the contrary, this is exactly as I planned,” Gari said. She pulled back her hood, and her ears rotated slowly. She smiled. “The Swift is on her way. Now, I want to go over some basic etiquette before she gets here.

“First of all, do not touch the boarding ramp until you have permission to board. Captain Gilbert’s word is final. If he is talking to you, you better listen to every word.

“We are not passengers per se. This is not a pleasure cruise. The Swift is a cargo ship, and you will be working. That is not to say that you won’t have fun, but you will not be lounging around for the whole two week.

“Finally, I will not tolerate any whining about the food. This is a cargo ship, not a luxury yacht. I have been sailing this route on and off for six hundred years with various captains, and I can tell you that Captain Gilbert cares a lot about the comfort of his crew. Luckily for you this passage will be short enough that we can have some fresh fruit, but know that the cook is working with a limited pantry.”

“Gari,” Scootaloo said, “We were eating raw leaves and roots in the Everfree Forest. I think we can handle two weeks on a ship.”

“I don’t expect any trouble from the two of you,” Gari said in a softer tone, patting Scootaloo on the head. “It’s just something I have to say. Oh, and here comes the Swift now.”

Scootaloo’s ears started ringing. Shaking her head did not lessen her discomfort in the slightest.

“Gib sail! Fenders going down!”

The hull flashed into existence not three metres from the dock, approaching at an alarming rate. Scootaloo jumped backwards and ducked. A bright pink stallion with zebra stripes on his front legs stood on deck facing the dock. He had three thick ropes in his mouth, each one linked to a gigantic fender that dangled into the water. Pink bat wings extended from his back, and his big tufted ears were adorned with an abundance of golden rings. The beard on his chin was meticulously trimmed so as not to make him look old.

The collision was surprisingly gentle. The fenders crackled, rolling between the hull and the dock as the ship came to a full stop. A few large waves crashed against the pillars below, and the ship slowly rolled until its deck became level.

The stallion on deck tied the fenders to some pins and spat between the ship and the dock.

“Hi mom,” he said, smiling with two gaps in his teeth. “How’s you been?”

“You’re kidding!” A similar-sounding voice said from within the fog. “Is that Gari? I thought she died!”

“Yeah,” cried the pink stallion. “Pilot, come down here! It’s mom!”

A patch of fog swirled before another pink stallion flapped into view on broad featherless wings, tight curls bouncing on his head. His cutie mark was a ship’s wheel with a yellow flashlight beneath it. There were two big holes in his left ear, but he was not wearing any earrings.

The two stallions quickly deployed a wide boarding ramp.

“Get Gil,” Pilot said to his companion.

“How are you, Fog Pilot?” Gari asked. “I hope Captain Gilbert has been treating you well?”

“You know me,” Pilot said with a good-natured laugh. “We’re doing great, me and Rose both. We ended the fishing season early this year to get an extra round in; some hunters in the north had surplus blubber, and that’s always a good haul.”

He chuckled to himself and scanned the deck, noticing the others for the first time. His eyes widened in delight.

“Are these your new kids?” He asked. “Oh, they’re so cute! Was I that small when you took me to Saltlick the first time? And what’s with the clothes? I thought you had good taste, mom.”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but this only made him laugh.

“It’s complicated,” Gari said. “Scootaloo, Morning Rain, this is Fog Pilot. I raised him and his brother in the Garden of Shadow before I moved to Equestria. They are full time sailors now. Fog Pilot, this is Scootaloo and Morning Rain. Scootaloo doesn’t live with me anymore, but she has been a great help in this journey.”

“It’s nice to meet you two,” Fog Pilot said. “Hey, is that a Wonderbolt up there?”

Rainbow Dash dropped to the dock and pulled back her hood in an elaborate and well-practiced motion. Unfortunately for her Fog Pilot’s attention was already elsewhere.

“Wait a second,” he said, squinting into the fog behind Gari. “Is… is that Luna back there?”

“No,” Gari said flatly, stepping into his line of sight. “I was traveling with some Lunar Guards. That is all.”

Pilot nodded slowly with his jaw slack. At that moment a squeaky door opened on deck and two others emerged. Only one of them had hooves.

“Good morning Gari!” Said the white-feathered griffin. His blue jacket was buttoned down, and his neck was stretched forwards in an attempt to penetrate the fog. “Lovely weather, right? If you were anybody else I would have told you to buy your own ship. But I knew the boys would want to see you. Now tell me Compass Rose, isn’t this worth losing a day of shore leave?”

“It’s something,” Pilot said. He then addressed the ponies on the dock. “This is Captain Gilbert. Do you have something to say?”

“Permission to board, Captain?” Scootaloo and Rain said in unison.

“You have my permission,” said Captain Gilbert.

They boarded quickly; Gari was the only one with any luggage to speak of, and this consisted of her saddlebag and a small keg which she gave to the twins. When Scootaloo looked back from the deck Luna and her guards were already gone.

“Raise fore and aft sails,” Gilbert ordered. “Gari, you know what to do. Take the helm, Pilot. You kids come with me. Hey! No flying!”

His warning came too late. The foresail caught the wind and swung to starboard, swatting Rainbow Dash out of the air. Scootaloo and Morning Rain giggled as she sat up with a low groan.

Gilbert led them to the stern where Fog Pilot stood with the wheel in his front hooves. Scootaloo did not see the running light until she stood under the rear mast. The deck rolled slowly to the side as the ship accelerated, and soon the fog started to thin. Patches of fog glided across the deck at an alarming speed. It was like flying through a cloud; Scootaloo extended her wings and felt the damp air around her.

She could almost fly.

“Welcome aboard the Swift,” Gilbert said proudly as he squinted into the wind. “The only three-mast schooner of the Birds of Spring, and the fastest ship of the entire fleet.”

“You keep telling yourself that, Gil,” Fog Pilot said. “You get three masts because you’d never get anywhere with two!”

The deck tilted some more, threatening to dump everyone into the shiny black water. The children stumbled while Rainbow Dash rose off the deck. Captain Gilbert adjusted his stance and smiled.

“That’s your first point to note,” he said. “We will be sailing at a high pitch for most of the passage; that’s the nature of my ship. You’ll get used to it.”

The mid sail snapped a few degrees further to starboard, jerking the deck to a more reasonable angle.

“Sorry!” Compass Rose hollered over the roar of the waves.

“Now,” Captain Gilbert continued. “Do you know anything at all about sailing?”

#

The shores remained hidden for the whole morning. Fog hugged the land; out on the bay there were only a few stray patches, looking like low clouds. They were rewarded for their early start with a brilliant red sunrise, after which a young griffin looking to be in his teens relieved Fog Pilot of the helm.

Scootaloo and Morning Rain spent most of the morning leaning green-faced over the starboard side. The rolling of the deck did not sit well with them, and it was a good thing they did not have breakfast in Saltlick.

About two hours into the voyage Scootaloo looked over at her brother. He was gagging over the side with his nose almost touching the water. He wiped his mouth when he finished and smiled at her weakly.

“Are you as sleepy as I am?” She said.

Rain nodded before dropping his head to dangle over the side once more.

“I can’t believe Rainbow Dash isn’t sick,” Scootaloo continued.

As if on cue the door flew open.

“Out of my way! Out of my way!”

“Don’t go, Dash! You’re wasting good food!”

Rainbow Dash could not care less. She hit the gunwales so hard that Scootaloo thought she would vault overboard. The filly looked away and dropped her ears as her sister loudly evacuated her stomach. Fog Pilot and Compass Rose cackled from the doorway.

“H… hey squirt,” Rainbow Dash gasped. She sounded like she was about to cry.

Rain’s smile started it all. In seconds the two children were on their bellies, pounding the deck and clutching their sides. Scootaloo didn’t know why it was so funny. Laughing felt good; in the end even Rainbow Dash joined in.

It was past noon when they cleared the mouth of Horseshoe Bay. Scootaloo and Morning Rain were both feeling much better, and they ran around the deck trying to see everything.

Far in the distance loomed tall grey cliffs. Birds fluttered around like swirling snowflakes, their shrill cries even reaching the ship. Scootaloo would have traversed the bowsprit had the staysails not been raised. A line of gigantic waves marked the boundary between the bay and open ocean, and already the deck was bucking from rougher water.

Gari called lunch soon thereafter. She was no longer wearing her cloak; the new look would take some getting used to.

Scootaloo and Morning Rain tumbled down the steep steps together, nearly landing on the big table that took up most of the cramped cabin. Neither of them had eaten since the night before, and now that their sickness had passed they were all too eager for the food that Gari so warned them about.

“No elbows on the table,” Gari warned when the kids climbed onto the bench. “It’s counterbalanced.”

“What does that…”

Rain was cut short as the tabletop shifted under his hoof. Fortunately Gari caught the other side before the bowls of soup could tumble off.

“That is what it means,” she said crossly. “Have you learned nothing, Morning Rain?”

Rain looked down at his hooves and said nothing.

The others arrived a few minutes later, Fog Pilot dragging a reluctant Rainbow Dash. The brothers were wearing gauntlets of sturdy black leather with an assortment of metal hooks and tools. Scootaloo could only guess at what they were for.

The young griffin from earlier set his dark blue jacket on the bench and sat down. He stared at the children beside him for a moment, his light grey eyes conveying little that Scootaloo could understand. The top of his head was covered in downy white feathers that stuck out in all directions, and there was a chip in his yellow beak. Finally he extended a scaly hand with long, sharpened talons. Scootaloo tried to hide her reluctance as she held out her own hoof.

“I’m Gordon,” he said in a voice not quite that of an adult. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Scootaloo,” she said. “This is Morning Rain, my brother.”

“Mom!”

A broad-shouldered griffin with a smooth grey head and black body filled the narrow doorway beside the stairs. His wings were open in excitement, but that didn’t stop him from trying to force his way into the cabin. The twins were already seated, and Gari did not wait for them to move. They made room for her to step over them, but the process was far from graceful.

“Huck,” she said with a smile, hugging him with one hoof. His big dirty hands left black smudges on her coat.

“Mom, you back,” he said with a slight lisp. “Thought you no travel now.”

“I’ve been busy, Huck,” Gari said. “You know how hard it is, running an orphanage.”

“I know,” he said, trying to push through the doorway again. “You good.”

Gari reached into the other room and helped tuck in his wings. By this time even Captain Gilbert was seated. A beard of ruffled down ran all the way to his broad chest, disappearing into his jacket. Only a few patches of down remained on his head, though the sleek, tightly-packed feathers that covered most of his scalp were by no means ugly. He had the same eyes as Gordon, but his open, weathered face seemed much friendlier.

“Huckleberry,” he said with a chuckle. “How is our cargo? You don’t have to tell me in Standard.”

Huck was visibly relieved. He spoke fluently in the griffin tongue, and his answer seemed to satisfy the Captain.

“You’re awesome, Huck,” he said. “After lunch I want you to lock up the rear hold. You’re working the mid sail this afternoon.”

Lunch consisted of potato chowder and hardtacks. The crew used an assortment of dented metal mugs for drinking, and Gari made sure her children did not look when she poured them their portion of watered-down beer. Scootaloo crinkled her nose at the metallic aroma.

“Don’t sip it,” Compass Rose advised. “You want it out of your mouth as quickly as possible.”

Scootaloo took a quick gulp and grimaced. The beer was full of gelatinous clumps and tasted like copper, and the water might have come straight from a swamp. The sailors laughed when she set down her mug.

“I tell ya,” Fog Pilot said to Rainbow Dash. “Ship food will either make you feel really young or really old. You file down your teeth with these rocks, and then you eat mush. The kids have it easy; they’re still getting new teeth.”

All through the meal the table shifted; or rather the ship shifted around the table. The way her soup did not spill or even move in its bowl made Scootaloo feel sick all over again.

Much to Scootaloo’s dismay, the whole biscuit she had accidentally dropped into her bowl retained a hard centre right to the end. She ate what she could and sucked on the rest like a bland, starchy jawbreaker.

When they emerged on deck once more Equestria was just a bump on the horizon. In three directions there was only water. The waves were high enough to wet the sails, and Scootaloo scarce dared to go within a metre of the gunwales.

Their first task from Captain Gilbert was to clean the lunch dishes. Morning Rain nearly lost the bucket overboard when he first tried to fetch water. They filled the metal basin at a safe distance from the edge and got to work. Scootaloo had to climb inside the massive soup pot to get at its bottom. The persistent wind made her numb all over, and she was relieved to return to her cloak.

The sylvanocians used the hooks on their gauntlets to handle ropes. Compass Rose was all too eager to showed off his set. Scootaloo and Morning Rain were particularly impressed with the swing-out blade on the right gauntlet, and Compass Rose even took some time to show them how to tie knots and adjust the sails.

Interesting though the lesson was, Scootaloo had trouble focusing. Her eyes constantly darted to the endless water, and she cringed at every wave that approached.

“Don’t be scared,” Compass Rose said as he shook off his wings after shielding the children from a massive spray. “In these parts, this is considered smooth sailing. This ship was built to right itself from up to ninety-five degrees; we won’t capsize even if the sails are all underwater, so long as the holds stay dry.”

Scootaloo and Morning Rain were put to work untangling and cleaning a pile of salt-crusted rope, and though it was not pleasant work they could do it behind the radio room out of the wind.

With her magic Gari trimmed the sails on the foremast and the stays. Her cloak fluttered open, revealing a thick brown jumpsuit underneath. Standing at the bow, she took most of the spray that day, until Rainbow Dash and Gordon took over late in the afternoon.

All were visibly exhausted when the sails were lowered. Scootaloo’s hooves and lips were tender from handling the rough ropes, and she wanted no more salt.

The cabin was cozy and dry; when Captain Gilbert latched the door for the night a gas lantern provided the only light.

“You brought suits for them, right?” Captain Gilbert said to Gari when he noticed Scootaloo’s raw hooves. “You would be very cruel not to.”

“I did, but it slipped my mind this morning,” Gari said. “Rain, Scootaloo, I brought some work clothes for you from Canterlot.”

“Speaking of Canterlot,” Fog Pilot said, leaning in with his elbow hovering an inch above the floating table. “I think it’s about time we heard the whole story. What is this business with the Midnight Guard? You seemed very concerned about us dealing with them this morning. Sure, we didn’t ferry them to Equestria, but what if we had? They are loyal to you, aren’t they?”

“And what is this ‘Garden of Shadow’ anyways?” Rainbow Dash said from beside Fog Pilot. “And since when did Princess Luna have children? I’m done with all this ‘just go with it’ nonsense. I want answers!”

Gari set down her spoon and sighed heavily.

“If I were a few hundred years younger I would have you thrown overboard,” she said. “But you two are right, I have some explaining to do. Let me start with recent events, and work backwards. Of the three of you from Equestria I doubt even Morning Rain knows the whole history of the Colony. With your permission, Captain, I think Huck should prepare the coffee tonight. This may take a while.”

Huck whistled happily as he waited for the water to boil. Captain Gilbert made him wear a belt around his wings in the kitchen. Gari spent this time explaining all the details of the attack on Canterlot and the events of the past few weeks. This also gave Scootaloo and Morning Rain to finish their story, and their account of the last week seemed to trouble Gari greatly.

“Gregor sounds like a nice fellow,” Captain Gilbert commented when they had finished. “What ship did you say he took?”

“The Jackdaw,” Scootaloo said.

Gilbert’s expression darkened. He leaned back with his jam-covered biscuit and did not speak again.

Huck returned with a big kettle and a plate of dates. Scootaloo considered dumping the rest of her beer into the slob bucket when Huck carried it away, but one look from Gari made her reconsider.

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently when Gari concluded the story with an account of the dinner in Saltlick. “Everypony knows what’s happening now. How about we hear your story?”

“You don’t strike me as one who enjoys history,” Gari said coldly.

“I don’t,” Rainbow Dash said, and sprang for the table. Fortunately the twins caught her before she could slam her hooves down. “But there are some thing that I need to know.”

Scootaloo hid her face behind her hooves.

Dash, please don’t be like this. Just this once.

“This is a matter for my family and the griffins,” Gari said. “Your presence on this ship is a privilege and not a right, Rainbow Dash. I will tell you if you so insist, but if you continue to be rude I will exclude you from all meeting from now on. It seems you are far too comfortable in the presence of royalty. Though we have little need for titles of any kind, the Children of the Night are princes and princesses of Equestria. Keep that in mind.

“A little over one thousand years ago, Luna and Celestia defeated Discord. Your history books ends the tale with the two princesses becoming the rulers of Equestria.

“That is not the full story, of course. Luna and Celestia took over a kingdom ravaged by long years of chaos magic. The land produced all sorts of strange and dangerous things, and pegasi were just starting to experiment with weather control. Many ponies died in those early years, including many parents.

“Both Luna and Celestia did their very best to help their new subjects rebuild, but they had very different approaches. Celestia wanted to better Equestria as a whole. She established new cities, rallied the strongest and brightest ponies of that time to build up infrastructure and tame the land. Canterlot became a great capital almost overnight, and many ponies found new hope.

“Luna helped all those who were left behind. What I am about to say may offend you, Rainbow Dash, but bear with me. There was no room in Celestia’s plan for the weak: the crippled; the maimed; the strange; the orphans. And you could very well be more than one of those things. Luna fought to protect us, but in the end her plea for mercy and compassion was drowned out by her sister’s magnificent vision of prosperity. Princess Luna had big plans for us in this new kingdom, but they were cut back again and again. In the end only one token orphanage was built: the Canterlot Orphanage.

“This is not the Canterlot Orphanage that you know of. It was a warehouse with a single room full of bunk beds. Reluctant caretakers arrived in the morning to give us a meal, and then we were locked in again. I was captured off the streets of Baltimare and imprisoned in that place. Even now I shudder to think about what happened there. It was like an oven during the summer day, and the caretakers barely left us enough water to drink, let along bathe. Even little foals were locked up like that. Many of the children died there; sometimes their bodies weren’t removed for days. That was our world, and it could have been the only world we ever knew.”

A solemn silence had fallen over the room. Even Rainbow Dash looked horrified. Scootaloo and Morning Rain cried quietly while Gari stared through Rainbow Dash with furious eyes.

“For a while Luna was occupied with other matters, but at last the collective nightmares of all the orphans of her kingdom could no longer be ignored. She came to all of us, whether we were in Canterlot or elsewhere. She listened, and comforted us through many long nights. Meanwhile she pleaded with her sister to let her find a new place for us. Celestia’s fear—that such an arrangement would divide the kingdom—was not groundless, as history would prove, but Princess Luna resented her for it.

“The situation at the orphanage grew worse as the year progressed. In the eyes of the citizens of Canterlot we were taking up valuable resources. Though we barely ate anything, we were eating their food and producing nothing but a horrible stench. One day my sister Magpie overhead the director of the orphanage talking about getting rid of us. We had no doubt about what she meant. That night we all told Luna what we heard; it was the first time we saw her cry.

“The next night Luna came to us with a message: ‘be ready to leave, and listen for my song. I will be with you soon.’ She sang to us in our dreams, a song that many of you have heard.

“We waited for a week, barely able to sleep. But she did not come. Our excitement turned to anger, and then to acceptance as the days dragged on. Luna visited less often, and whenever we asked the answer was always the same: ‘soon.’

“It was almost winter when it happened at last. We were all shivering under our thin, filthy blankets; it was too cold to sleep. Many of us were sick, and we were all very weak. That moment when I heard the song was the happiest moment of my life. We floated through the window and rose above Canterlot, and I still remember how fresh the air was. In the distance I saw other fillies and colts rising up to meet us. I saw Princess Luna for the first time outside of my dreams, and I remember thinking she was the most beautiful mare I had ever seen.”

To her credit Rainbow Dash didn’t try to lighten the mood with a funny face. She bit her lip to hold back her tears, while all of Gari’s children were crying freely.

“We flew for hours, over Equestria and across the ocean. In the dawn we landed on a beach, and there we were greeted by Luna’s guards. They carried us inland over barren, rocky ground to a big stone house. They bathed us and put us to bed. For many of us that was the first bath we ever had in our lives, and though we were terrified of the sylvanocians they took great care of us. We were well fed, and in our dreams Luna was always there to comfort us. She and the sylvanocians were very patient with us; they made sure we were strong and healthy before putting us to work.

“That place where we landed is known today as Kelp Town. It was there that griffins first met ponies. Princess Luna had observed the griffins for months beforehand, and she decided that they could be reasoned with. She casted a spell on Kelp Town so that griffins could not enter, and in this way we were kept safe while she negotiated on our behalf. She said that Kelp Town was useless for farming, that it was a poor location for a port, and that no griffins lived nearby. Grudgingly they agreed, and so we had our first home.

“For ten years Luna raised us. She brought a second group of orphans a few weeks after emptying the Canterlot Orphanage, so there were forty-six of us in total. She taught us how to build up the soil with kelp and how to grow food. We learned how to read and write; we learned all we needed to know to survive. Even with magical help we had to work very hard, but those really were happy days. By the time Nightmare Moon showed up, Kelp Town was starting to look like a real colony, with many houses and a mill. The soil had become fertile. We even got along with the griffins, and our farming produced enough food that they could build a city of their own.

“About one week before she became Nightmare Moon Luna visited us one last time. We all dropped what we were doing and gathered in the house which she had first built for us. Though we no longer lived there, it was still our meeting place and school.

“She was troubled and very irritable that night.

“’My children,’ she said to us. ‘You have learned well, and your achievements are magnificent. I am proud of you. Now I have one final gift for you. This may be the last time you see me for quite some time, but do not despair. You are Equestria’s future, and together you will do great things.’

“Luna’s spell was excruciating. When we woke up the next morning she was gone. I had wings, and her crown was upon my head. You should have seen the others’ faces when they saw me. But within an hour we discovered that we had all received new powers. The pegasi and earth ponies among us could do magic just as well as the unicorns, and we all could fly. Princess Luna had turned us all into alicorns.

We continued to live as if everything was alright, but the world had changed. At first I wore a cloak to hide my new wings from the griffins, but they quickly figured out what Luna had done. When she was still planning the colony Luna had used her magic as leverage against the griffins, and having a whole family of alicorns for neighbors didn’t sit well with them. Soon sylvanocians were fleeing to us from Equestria, bringing news of what had happened. They filled up Kelp Town and expanded into the surrounding area, and for some time it seemed that our peace with the griffins would end. At last we decided that somepony had to go to Equestria and try to reason with Celestia.

“My brother Trotamundo volunteered to go, and for Celestia’s sake I will not go into the details of his journey.

“For many years the sylvanocians continued to flee to us, until we had no choice but to threaten war. The griffins gave us a considerable inland territory in response, and there the Garden of Shadow was built.

“Despite all that had happened we enjoyed several centuries of relative peace. We had many children in the first two hundred years, and the Garden of Shadow became a huge city where griffins and ponies lived together. Looking back, it was hard to believe that it all started with a handful of orphans on a beach.”

Gari stared through the hull in silence. None dared to speak, not even Rainbow Dash.

“I have much more to say, but that is enough for tonight,” she declared. “I am sorry if I rambled, everyone. Please, get some sleep. You must be very tired.”

Scootaloo turned away numbly as the adults filed towards the door at the back of the cabin. She was about to hop down when a sudden urge stopped her.

Just this once. It’s been so long.

She waited until Rainbow Dash disappeared into the dark hold, and then stood up and put her hooves around Gari’s shoulder. She kissed her on the cheek.

Gari grabbed her before she could retreat. With her other hoof she took Morning Rain onto her lap and hugged them both.

“I missed you two,” she said quietly. “I love all of you. Do you know now why I care so much?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said with a soft sniff.

Gari held them out in front of her and kissed each of them on the forehead.

“Good,” she said. “Go to bed now. We start early tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Rain asked.

“Not tonight,” Gari replied with a tired smile. “I’ve done my share of sleeping in the last thousand years. You need not worry about me; that goes for both of you. Now go.”

The low-ceilinged hold was lit by a single gas lamp. Crates and barrels obscured the hull, and multi-colored hammocks dangled at various heights from the beams overhead.

“Those two are yours,” came Fog Pilot’s voice from above. His hoof appeared out of a hammock, silhouetted against the lantern. “If you have to use the head, remember to close the valve like I showed you. Going down by the head is the worst way to go.”

Rainbow Dash giggled groggily.

Scootaloo took off her cloak and belt and climbed into a hammock. The world became still as soon as her hoof left the floor. All around her the ship bucked and rolled with the waves, but she knew that she was not moving. Looking made her dizzy, so she unfolded the fleece blanket and closed her eyes.

The hammock hugged her body and kept her back at a comfortable temperature. It forced her back and neck into an arch that was surprisingly comfortable. She did not move around too much, for fear of being dumped onto the floor. The gentle swaying of the hammock and the muffled sound of crashing waves lulled her to sleep.

She dreamed that she was flying over the ocean with Rainbow Dash. Far in front of her Gari drifted on magnificent black wings.

“Hurry up, Scootaloo,” Rainbow Dash cried. “Nightmare Moon is coming!”

And so she was, with a company of four griffins and a full moon shining behind her.

“Get to the beach! Get to the beach!”

But there was no beach. Scaly hands closed around her ankles, and Scootaloo began to fall.