Journey to the center of Equestria

by Rarity Belle

Chapter LXXXVIII

Time just went by and another night had to be spent under the starry night could the group finally have seen the settlement Manehatten just lying in the distance. As time went on, they could all even smell the salty scents of the sea itself. The last night that they would have spent outside in the skies had been lived through and the mares all began their morning routines.

That would have the one way where they all would try to catch a ship to sail them off to Canterlot itself. The mares all dressed themselves for the adventures to come and looked over to one another. Nods were given in silence as only Rarity seemed to have taken her sweet time. Naturally the mares thought about some sort of incident that had happened to her and the settlement. Yet none knew what had happened.

Only Applejack could have been guessing on the matter as well. Everything was possible in their eyes, but if the pirate captain would have taken that long to get dressed, there was only one excuse. She was up to something and that something could have ended both ways.

The rest of the mares began on their breakfast as the last things were all sorted out. The food that was given to them was once again prepared by Applejack, of whom they had decided in unison who happened to be the best cook of them all. A title that was actually worthy to her given the fact that she made the most delicious dishes for them all.

Even though the food given to her was simple, the earth anthrony did always manage to make something interesting out of it. That breakfast didn’t happen to be any different. A smile had grown upon the face of the admiral when she wore a little bit more civil clothing. They didn’t wanted their identities to be just thrown out of the window the moment they walked through the gates of the settlement.

Everypony had in fact followed that very example. Especially given the fact that they also had a lamia to carry around and about. The group tried to remain incognito until they were back in the massive city that was their land’s capital.

The mares began to eat their breakfast while the mumbles came out of the tent. Rarity seemed to have some difficulties to get everything the way she wanted to have it. Perhaps it was a good thing that she took so long, for she had pretty much a bulls eye painted right upon her forehead.

The rest of the mares always had kept a rather low profile in their lives when it came down to Manehatten, which they intended to be kept that way.

As time went on and the breakfast was long done before she finally did appear. The unicorn pirate captain had finally taken the time to get out of the tent and reveal herself in the bright daylight. All of the mares had to blink a couple of times as they never had believed that it was Rarity who stood there.

Everything about her appearance had changed via her magical abilities. The eyes were no longer sapphire blue but had turned to emerald green, the hair had lost its purple color to a more blonde shade. The only thing that remained the same was her skin color. But the sheer model in which her hair sat, made her almost unrecognizable for prying eyes.

Not to mention the black dress that she wore. A dress that seemed to have been fit for a high society anthrony, complete with a little parasol which she used to lean gently upon. What kind of trousers and shoes were worn –together with the question if her tail had changed any color– was unknown. The very fabric of the dress almost seemed to be sweeping over the floor itself. Overall she was a beauty to look at, with one major flaw to it.

“Riiight,” the major of the air force spoke to her at first. She couldn’t really believe the facts as they were and blinked heavily with her eyes. They tried to be incognito, not joining some kind of masquerade ball. Though they most likely were guaranteed to draw attention from the beings in Manehatten to begin with as they carried Pinkie Pie with them.

“Looking rather smashing, Rarity,” said Fluttershy before she gave the unicorn a smile.

The pirate made a small twirl on the spot before she released a giggle. She seemed to have been happy with the facts as they were. She seemed to love the outfit just as much as some others did. The changes that were made to her appearance must have been good enough to fool almost anypony she came across.

The plan inside of Manehatten was just as simple as it always had been. Find a ship and get away. They wouldn’t be walking much through the city according to their own ideas. Finding the port must have been easy peasy. At least they hoped that it would have been, they looked back to their luck and prayed it wasn’t all spend just yet.

Not much time after the introduction of Rarity’s new looks had the mares gathered themselves around one another to tell the plan one more time. They all agreed upon the fact that the vessel they needed had to be small but fast. Most likely would the griffons have prepared their own ship as well. The feeling struck them all right in the guts for some reason before they continued.

Plan went over to one another before they finally came together with what was thought to be the perfect plan. A plan that actually was a simple as the fact of them going to the city and get out. Though whether or not they would have had the luck of actually finding a ship suitable for their liking remained to be seen.

Either way, the company had agreed upon the plan as it was. They all nodded to one another and they were ready. The time had come for them all to make the last journey by hooves. The last journey that would have taken them to the port of the settlement before them. The name had fallen in their heads so many times by then that they were almost getting sick and tired of it.

But the reality of the matter actually happened to be there. They were almost there and that was about the last thing that needed to be done. The mares nodded to themselves as the tent was stored back in the void storage. Without a single word did the company of mares turn their attention over to the settlement of Manehatten, they were ready for it. Their desires to go home had been greater than anything so far.

~~~~

The day went by smooth when the group wandered through the settlement. Naturally was it Pinkie Pie who had gained a lot of strange eyes from all of the anthronies. But they just as quick forgot about her because she was accompanied by the rest of the mares.

There wasn’t really a sense of danger that came from the lamia as those who passed the group actually thought that it was their pet. They had all heard rumors of such a species living in their land but they never saw a real one. Not to mention the fact the anthronies in bigger cities always walked straight past the things that they didn’t know. Nor were they seemed to be mentioned anywhere else.

That alone was a massive relief for the company of mares. Their feelings of security went up higher whereas the levels of threats seemed to be lowered. There was still danger lurking around every single corner in Manehatten though. But they were with a group of six and still armed to the teeth. Chances would have been pretty big that Rarity managed to hide a whole blunderbuss under that dress of hers. A blunderbuss of which she knew how to use it properly if needed.

The mares all looked their eyes out in the city though. Buildings that were made of stone that rose up and up into the skies. They almost touched the clouds themselves if they didn’t know any better. Manehatten was a thriving settlement that got a port that actually competed against Canterlot’s in size. That alone caused hundreds of jobs to be available and the settlement therefore had a steady increase in size each year.

The once useless settlement had turned itself into a beginning metropolis. Who knew how long it would take until the settlement could be called a city? None of them knew while they were all taken by the high-scrapers of the place.

Both amazement and wonder came to the mares while they continued to look around, but also ahead. For ahead of them they saw it appear. The thing that made the settlement as famous as it was and caused Rarity to have a shiver down her spine.

Right before them and down the street it laid, the very port of Manehatten itself.

A port that was massive in size and had numerous wooden cranes that lifted up pallet after pallet that was filled with boxes and crates out of the ships that laid at the docks. Ships came and went while the wind filled their sails. But those were all massive merchant ships. Ships that they didn’t had anything to do with, or could have anything to do with.

No, they were in the wrong portion of the port. They had to find the place where the smaller vessels laid, the fishing vessels even. Anything small would have been great enough to make the crossing. The merchants ships never went to Canterlot to begin with. They always sailed in a straight line to the nearest horizon. They would travel to the lands beyond them in order to trade their goods with the anthronies of the Great Plains and even beyond that.

Those few captains daring enough were granted a route to the kingdom of the griffons were lucrative trades always seemed to be happening. The port of Manehatten was like any other, filled with working anthronies and high bosses in suits. Rarity shook her head a little bit after she had glanced over the endless seas.

So very soon would she have been able to wave them all goodbye. Yet only the manner in which she would be doing it remained unknown. That was the only factor of her plan that she couldn’t have discussed with anypony else and that couldn’t have been known to begin with.

Pinkie looked her eyes out before she rose up a little bit more. Her head stuck out higher than the largest anthrony by comparison. She just looked over the massive ships that came and went. All of it was new for her and she felt both excitement as well as a certain nervousness. There was no other way to reach the place Twilight had said over and over, and over.

The lamia nodded calm to herself before she lowered her body down again. She watched as the group of mares all walked further once more. That was the signal to her that she had to go along with them. The last thing that she needed was that she would have been left behind by the mares. Or even worse, that she would have gotten lost within the settlement or the port.

The actual last leg of the journey was about to begin and they all knew that fact. Time would be the ruler about the separation of the group. Whether it was liked or not, they all knew that their time was running out faster than ever. The company of misfits would sooner or later just crumble as if it had never existed. But they all knew that the bonds forged by the journey would never have been broken.

No matter what, they would always remember one another and call upon their help if it was absolutely required. That was the bond of friendship that got forged in the journey.

Beneath their hooves came the wooden boards of the harbor while the crashing waves were caught in their ears. The salty scents of the sea made both Applejack and Rarity feel right at home. Pinkie Pie on the other end just wanted to get the scent right out of her nose. She didn’t like it one bit and Twilight could only have given her right on the matter. The smell of the salt wasn’t something that was particularly liked by her either.

But they were there. The six of them all had lined themselves up while they glanced over everything. Anthronies walked behind, in front and to their sides, but they never seemed to notice the six beings just standing there. Almost like six phantoms of the past did they appeared before the serious looks in their eyes changed over into smiles of kindness.

They were ready, they were so ready to finally get on-board of any of the vessels and make the last leg. Gentle exhales were released through of their nostrils as they looked to one another for perhaps one last time.

“Milady’s, the time for us to split up and find what we need has fallen upon us. I bid thee all a good search and come back here if you have discovered a suitable vessel, and spoke to the captain or owner. I think my instructions are pretty clear. Good luck to you all,” the soothsayer spoke in an unusually posh tone from her voice. A tone which not many had expected from her.

The other mares just had to give her a last look of confusion before they just gave it up. Twilight had always been a little strange and they just rolled with it for what it was. The company of mares all nodded in the end before the split up happened. The search had begun.

All six of the mares spread themselves out in order to find the one ship that they needed. Only Pinkie Pie remained at Twilight’s side as the wandered through the port. Of course there were strange eyes given to the two of them but they didn’t care about them whatsoever. The two of them had their own quest to fulfill.

Pinkie stayed in the neighborhood of the unicorn for two major reasons. The first one was that she naturally trusted Twilight a whole lot more then the others, but the second was a little bit more for herself. She had the small desire to know what Twilight had meant with her words spoken earlier to her. Would she come to live in the same place as the unicorn did, or would there have been a house created just for her alone? The lamia didn’t knew but given how Twilight was looking over to the vessels that laid docked there. Perhaps it wasn’t the greatest of times to ask either.

Twilight’s eyes went from ship to ship as she glanced only over the sterns. More often than not they carried the name of it as well as were being able to give her a rather clear indication about what kind of ship it was. Was it a vessel that sailed the waters of Equestria? Or one that sailed further past the horizon itself?

All those little things had to be taken into a deep account and consideration. They were all prepared to pay a price for getting aboard of the vessel. But if the price would have been too high, they had to decline it. She could understand the reasoning behind certain captains though.

She had already asked a couple of them, but the prices were all too high and the deviation of the course was too much for her liking. All of the massive ships were vessels that went over the horizon in the east instead of going south. Defeat crawled up within the unicorn as she placed her hands behind her back.

Captured for anthrony smuggle, was often an excuse she heard from the captains. A danger that was all too real and too terrifying to witness. There were ports that allowed such kind of smuggling to happen, most likely the pirate port where they found Rarity was one of them. Twilight was slightly running out of ideas and her eyes betrayed that every so often.

Pinkie Pie just slithered next to her in the hope to give her some much needed moral support. The unicorn anthrony was glad that she at least had some form of company with her. Somepony to which she could talk to, which was the thing that happened between the pair of them.

The conversation was started about life under the ground and up on the very surface. What the differences happened to be and how Pinkie adapted to it all. The tones were calm, sometimes cheerful even. As neither party spoke about the dark stuff that happened on either side of the dirt.

Somewhere else along the port had Fluttershy been walking down with her hopes high. The pegasus waved her arms at the side of her body when she had found a dock that carried all kinds of smaller ships. From the looks of it, it all seemed to be fishing vessels. The seas were rich in food and they could eat all they wanted out of it.

It were shots that had to be fired if she wanted to have even the slightest bit of chance. Her eyes went from left to right while they inspected the ships in silence. Comments about how pretty she was were thrown down at her from the sailors that stood on the decks, but she just ignored them. A thing that was probably for the better.

Not even a blush came to her face from them. She had heard so many over the years as a doctor, that she didn’t replied to them anymore. Usually when a patient woke up, Fluttershy would have been the first being they saw. More often than not they asked her if she was an angel. Her response? Always the same as she said nothing else but no.

One vessel seemed to have been rather promising in her eyes. With confidence had she walked up the walkway. But she never actually dared to get up on the ship itself. Something almost magical seemed to have held her standing on the spot. The pegasus couldn’t define it though.

“Can I help you, fine lass?” the voice of an old sailor spoke to her. Fluttershy turned herself around to face the stern of the ship. At the helm he stood with a pipe in his mouth. A tiny bit of smoke left the thing before he approached her a bit more. “You look like you could use a little help.”

“P-Permission to come aboard, sir?” she asked. Rarity and Applejack had given them all a fast little learning of seamare behavior one-o-one. One of such rules was to never, ever get on a ship without having asked permission from the captain itself.

The old stallion nodded a little bit and she dared to get aboard. What happened from that moment on were the negotiations to get the mares to Canterlot. The two of them walked all over the deck as he didn’t seem to have a crew of any kind. Whatever was going on, Fluttershy had to try her best. The vessel was good enough and he was willing to make the journey to Canterlot. She literally would have hit two birds with one stone.

~~~~

Hours and hours had gone by and the late afternoon had been setting in. One by one had the mares return to the spot where they would be meeting up with one another. But all of them bore the same news. The news that there didn’t seem to be any ship sailing into their direction. Or worse, that the price they asked was too high to be given.

“So basically, we’re still stuck here?” Twilight said before it dropped everything into the waters below. The whole plan of just making a quick getaway was dropped in the vast ocean that stretched before them. “Just great.”

“Can’t help it, Twilight, the port here has gotten a lot, lot bigger in such a short time. Neither Applejack nor I knew it had grown that much,” the disguised pirate captain spoke to her in return. The words were true. When Rarity made her ambush all that time ago, the harbor was almost nothing. Not to mention that the routes the admiral had sailed rarely brought her directly to the port of Manehatten.

“Ugh, there must be something that we can be doing, right? I mean, hey, any of you seen Fluttershy?” the unicorn spoke when she noticed that the most silent mare was still missing.

“Now that you say it…” Rainbow added before she looked around her. With her sharp eyes she looked to every single being that could be seen. Among the crowds had the other pegasus been an easy find, she thought to herself.

Which it surprisingly was. Her yellow skin and pinkish hair stood out of everything as she came running into their direction. “There she is.”

Moments later had Fluttershy joined the group of mares and was panting almost for her life. They wanted to overwhelm her with the questions that they had but allowed her to catch up with her breath first. Seconds ticked by before she would have been able to tell her story to all of them. A story that was said in a tone of almost true happiness.

How she had managed to do it was unknown to them all, but she thought to have found the answer upon all of their questions. “I found a small, small fishing vessel that’s willing to take us, to Canterlot,” she said with a wide smile upon her face.

Relief already came to the mares as they thought that they would have been out of the troubles. “But what’s the price?” Twilight asked her.

“That’s the most, a-amazing part, it’s free!” Fluttershy added. All the eyes of the mares went wide as they couldn’t believe a single word from what was said. It couldn’t have been right, right? There must have been some sort of catch that lurked beneath the friendly expression. But it was their only shot in the moment. No other vessels would have brought them to Canterlot.

The company would have agreed upon at least going to the vessel and listen to the words of the captain. If the deal was too shady, they would have pulled out just like that. But if it was tempting enough, they would have jumped straight on top of it.

While the company walked down the docks with Fluttershy ahead of them, it was Pinkie Pie who stared at the massive body of water. Never in her life had she seen so much water being collected in one place before. She just couldn’t keep her eyes away from it and Twilight seemed to have been noticing the little fact.

Another gentle smile was formed by her lips just before she shook her head gentle. The mare couldn’t have helped herself but to make a comment about it. “Our world is a lot bigger than you originally would think, Pinkie. A lot wider as well. Even beyond the seas, to where those ships are going to, is also land. Hidden far behind the horizon. Places most beings could only have dreamed about visiting,” she spoke up in a gentle tone. Almost as if she was reading a story to a foal.

The comparison between Pinkie and a foal was easily drawn then. Given the fact that the lamia almost knew nothing about the world as it was. The words of Twilight captivated her, mesmerized her to the point where she wanted to know what exactly laid behind the horizon. But that meant that she had to cross the vastness of water. That fact alone terrified her to the core.

The lamia was only used to seeing underground rivers flowing and underground lakes, then she was presented with an entire ocean that laid above the ground. Hundreds of thoughts rushed through her as she wanted to know everything. But simply couldn’t.

So the head of the lamia then finally turned into the direction of Twilight as she wanted to know the words that were spoken. She didn’t fully seemed to be understanding them. She needed to have a little bit more explanation on the matter and desperately needed such a thing.

But the time to give her that wasn’t granted. The company of mares had arrived at the vessel that Fluttershy had told them about. It was a seaworthy vessel that seemed to have gone past its high days, but one that still was able to float. The dual masts were another indication that it was built for a little bit more speed and even appeared to have been able to sail against the wind.

That was the silent judgment of Rarity. But when all of the mares went aboard, they were all met the captain of the ship. An aged stallion that had a gray skin and even grayer hair. The pipe was removed from his mouth and pointed to the five other mares. “So these are your friends you told me about? They seem like nice folk to me, a bit rough around the edges. Especially given her…”

The old sailor pointed to the steam powered leg of Applejack in silence. The admiral released a gentle huff through her nostrils as she narrowed her eyes. “Don’t even think ‘bout it, ‘kay?” she said to him.

The old fool had to take a step or two back. He didn’t wanted to be caught right within her firing line. He understood the words that she said and the direction that she came from. He nodded with his head as he looked back to Fluttershy.

“I told her, that you all would be able to say on this vessel for free to Canterlot. There was however one condition,” the old sailor spoke moments before he placed the pipe back in his mouth.

“If it is anyone of us that you want, you can forget it,” said Twilight before she realized what she had said to him. The hands were then quickly brought over to her mouth as she shut herself up.

An eyebrow of the old stallion rose up in confusion. He didn’t seemed to be getting the words she said. “I don’t even want any of you to begin with! You really think all old sailors that offer free rides are automatically up to something?! Go and shame upon what you have said and thought.” He did happen to have a point as Twilight allowed her thoughts to speak before fact was given.

Fluttershy wanted to calm the situation down as she asked the question that was on all of their minds. “What’s the condition that you require from us?”

The old stallion turned his head back to the pegasus and gave her a gentle smile. “As you can see, this ship is at the end of her glory. I want to give her one last trip before she is taken out of the waters forever more. One last time she has to feel the waves crashing against her bow and feel the winds in her sails. But alas, I don’t have a crew. Not anymore since that trip to Pirate’s Port.”

“Here it comes,” the admiral spoke in a whisper before she crossed her arms.

“I give you free passage to Canterlot, if you become the crew of her last voyage. Sounds fair enough, I think so? Would the young mares do such a thing for an old sailor?” the old stallion said when the catch was finally known to the group.

It was a catch that didn’t seemed to have been too terrible actually. All that they had to do was do a little bit of work and they would be back home. Nothing that they couldn’t handle. So the agreement was quickly made with the old stallion.

They would work upon his vessel in trade for him bringing them all back to Canterlot harbor. The deal was fair enough in all of their eyes and there didn’t seemed to have been any catch for it either. Though Rarity would need a change of attire first. In the dress that she wore couldn’t she do any work upon the deck. If they had to work to get what they needed, she might as well change into something a little bit more comfortable like a trench coat or something along those lines.

~~~~

At the beginning of the evening was the vessel ready. The company had changed their attire were it was needed into something that allowed them to run around the deck like monkeys. Rarity appeared in a black trench coat and tried to avoid any form of contact with the captain of the vessel.

For one reason or the other she could have only thought about the matter of him being an old face she remembered. Was it one of the survivors that got out of her Manehatten raid from all that time ago? She didn’t knew, but he reminded her of it a little too much. Caution had to be applied from that moment onward.

The vessel managed to set itself loose from the side of the dock and maneuvered itself through the massive ships that formed of the –what they had dubbed– ‘Manehatten Fleet’. All of those massive merchant ships were a nightmare to sail through but the reward was just so worth it.

For once they were at the open seas, the true beauty of the land could finally be witnessed. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy even seemed to be understanding why the other two mares had fallen in love with the seas. There was this natural sense of mystery to it as well. Though they had only seen the calmer sides of it. There were naturally sides of the sea that were a whole lot different. But those moments were never touched upon.

The moon was standing high over the seas as the vessel with the mares was picking up some speed. Even though they all should have gone to bed some hours ago did they all still had the energy to keep on pushing. The old stallion actually admired to them the vast amount dedication that the mares had in getting to the port of Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash was glancing through her binoculars while she hung high in the masts. One arm was coiled around it and she looked past the sails of the ship and straight behind them. Something hadn’t been sitting right in her guts ever since the moon came out. Thankfully that same moon seemed to have provided enough light to actually see clearly in the darkness of night.

Her eyes went from left to right with the binoculars as she looked over the almost calm waters. She thought that they were alone upon the stroke of water, but she was dead wrong upon it. For within the glasses of her binoculars she caught the sight she didn’t wanted to see. “All hell’s about to break loose,” she muttered to herself.

The pegasus jumped down from the mast and landed upon the deck thanks to her wings. Her eyes went directly over to the captain of the vessel. He was surprised to see her back. An eyebrow rose up when Rainbow gathered all the other mares. The duties that they were doing could be left for a moment. The news that the major had to tell them was something they didn’t wanted to hear.

“The griffons, had been planning ahead. The ship of Sharpbeak is literally right behind us at maybe two miles. If we cut any slack, they catch up to us,” said Rainbow to the mares. Their faces all turned to those of horror before the heads were shaken.

The captain on the other end didn’t knew what was going on and could only ask the question that was on his mind. “What in the name of everything did you lot do to get the attention of emperor Sharpbeak himself?” he asked to them all.

Rarity seemed to have been the only mare that was capable of actually answering the question. Her words were direct and less than classy. But it was said in a tone that he could have easily understood it. “We, kinda pissed him off. A great bit, matter of fact.”