The Unofficial Records of a Mare in Black

by the7Saviors

3/2/1001

We've finally made it to the lovely port town of Paelys and I can honestly say I've never been so glad to be back on solid ground.

As I mentioned in my last entry, we'd be traveling to Asterios by ship—specifically, an agency-provided schooner we rode from Fillydelphia to Paelys. This trip, as it happens, marks both my first time on a ship, and my first time actually leaving the Equestrian mainland. Now, I've been on an airship a few times in my life, even before my more recent trip to Manehattan, and I've never had an issue riding the things. Not once.

Apparently, seafaring ships and the sea itself are entirely different beasts. I thought I'd been prepared for the trip ahead, but somehow, in my excitement or anxiety, I failed to account for the seasickness. We spent over a week out there in that roiling sea, and my poor stomach paid the price every step of the way. That was the main reason I didn't do any writing during the journey.

I wanted to, but the nausea was so bad I couldn't get through a single paragraph without feeling like I was going to upend all my guts. And hey, I wasn't the only one suffering. Turns out, my dear partner Rolling Stone doesn't do so well on the open sea, either. In fact, she had it even worse than I did. Somehow, her extreme aversion to ships doesn't surprise me. Maybe it's her whole thing with rocks, I don't know.

I did get to see a side of her most ponies probably don't get to see, even if it was a side I'd rather not have known about. I won't go into details for her sake, but suffice it to say, Maud gets very cranky when she's sick. But then you have Sunset Shimmer, who was perfectly fine with everything. This was also her first time on a ship, too, but she was probably the only one who got to actually enjoy the crashing waves and salty air of the ocean.

Maud and I mostly just stayed inside the cabin, but Sunset spent most of her time in the crow's nest. It didn't matter whether she was supposed to be up there or not. Sunset will be Sunset. Things did get a bit better as we neared Asterios, but it was Tartarus for most of the trip. Still, I'm glad at least one of us was able to have a good time. I'm even more glad that the trip is over and done with—for now, anyway.

More importantly, we're here now, and Asterios has been pretty neat so far. Just about every home and business I've seen so far is built of either marble or granite. You see a lot of marble in Canterlot the closer you get to the castle, but I've never seen a town with this much or designed in such a way. Everything is towering, but I suppose that makes sense given the sheer size of the average minotaur.

And that brings me to the minotaurs themselves. I've never seen an actual minotaur before, but I'd heard stories. According to old school rumors, minotaurs were supposed to be big, boisterous, and belligerent. I'd never put much stock into a rumor I couldn't confirm for myself, of course. After having met a few now, I can honestly say that, while the first two stereotypes certainly had a basis in reality and while they were clearly bull-headed in a literal sense, the last one didn't seem to be the case—at least, not for the ones I met.

On the contrary, a lot of them were pretty friendly. A little too friendly in one case, but I'd rather not talk about that particular bit of awkwardness. Setting that one incident aside, they all also seemed to have this palpable air of confidence in themselves, no matter what they were doing. There was a sureness in each of their steps that you didn't really see from the everyday Canterlot citizen, not even from the elites of the city.

It was honestly kind of refreshing to see, and needless to say, Sunset warmed right up to any minotaur she met. Maud's expression didn't change much, but that was only her outward appearance. I'd been around the mare long enough now to tell that she was drinking everything in with just as much enthusiasm as Sunset, if not more. Her eyes were glued to every building and monument she passed, her passive, borderline apathetic gaze shining with hidden glee.

For my part, I was certainly impressed by the layout of the small(ish) port town, but I more or less had my mind on the mission. It took some time for me to lighten up after the less-than-pleasant trip here. While I did appreciate the architecture and how surprisingly affable the townsfolk were, it was the local cuisine that really blew me away. We'd all arrived in Paelys sometime in the early afternoon and once we confirmed everything was in order at the inn the agency had paid for in advance, we decided to stop by one of the restaurants near the local market.

We weren't scheduled to meet with Daring Do until tomorrow morning, so we had some time to kill. I don't really consider myself much of a foodie normally. I'm content just to wolf down a granola bar and be about my business, but at the same time, I won't say no to a good meal, and boy was that meal good. Apparently, minotaurs are omnivores, and while I obviously wasn't a fan of meat, they had a lot of amazing exotic vegetable-based dishes—most of which I can't pronounce the names of.

Reading all of this back, it sounds like I'm gushing about a vacation, and in a way, at least for today, it kind of felt like it. It'll be all business starting tomorrow, but for today, I had a lot of fun. If there was one thing I'm worried about, though, it's Sunset. She seemed to be having the most fun out of the three of us, but that was only initially. As the day dragged on, I started to notice how, in between the jokes and the banter with us and the minotaurs we met, her eyes would drift to something I couldn't see.

It was like she was distracted, her smile slipping and her laughter growing quiet. I didn't bother her about it while we were out, but by the time we returned to the inn for the night, she'd stopped talking altogether and this troubled, contemplative look on her face. Eventually, I asked her what was wrong, expecting her to brush off my concerns like she usually did, but this time she didn't. She hesitated for a moment, sure, but then she spoke.

Evidently, as the mare explored more and more of Paelys, she started to get this intense sense of nostalgia—like she'd been here before. According to her, speaking to the minotaurs almost felt like coming home. That might've explained why she got on so well with them, but it did nothing to explain the strange sense of familiarity that she had in the first place. That strangeness, then, led to Sunset telling me a fact about herself that she'd never shared with me before:

Sunset Shimmer was an orphan.

What's more, she didn't remember a lot about her foalhood before being taken in as the Princess' protégé. She had vague memories of an orphanage in the slums of Canterlot, but they were all hazy and indistinct—or so that's what Sunset told me. I worried about my friend, but Sunset didn't seem to be upset per se. Rather, she just seemed... confused. I didn't blame her. After talking it out for a while, we both agreed that something smelled fishy about the situation.

Neither of us was fool enough to dismiss her strange feelings outright, nor did we dismiss the idea that her murky past and this strange nostalgia might be related somehow. Even Maud, who'd apparently been listening in, agreed that we ought to keep our eyes and ears open for any more weirdness. Having found myself thrust into the middle of a few conspiracies at the hooves of our Most Radiant Sun herself, I agreed wholeheartedly. If there was some other scheme or mystery in the works, I wanted it nipped in the bud—preferably before our mission got off the ground.

Honestly, I would've preferred we just ignore any possible distractions altogether, but I knew deep in my bones that Sunset wouldn't let this go. Not with the look she gave me before heading off to bed. There was an intensity in those brilliant cerulean eyes, an intensity that I didn't like one bit. I asked Maud to weigh in on the matter, but she seems content to go with the flow, whatever comes of it.

Getting no help there, I decided to shelf the issue for now and now here I am, finishing up this entry so I can sleep my stress away. We have an early day and a lot of work ahead of us, and I'd rather not spend too much time dwelling on the what-ifs and maybes of tomorrow any more than I have to.

With all that said, I'm calling it a night.

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Sunset's remembering the other omnivorous bipeds she spent time amongst. Very spooky.

[Tonto the Trotter]

This was also her first time on a ship, too, but he was probably the only one who got to actually enjoy the crashing waves and salty air of the ocean.

There's an extra space after 'probably the' and you typed he instead of she.

[The Cynical One]

Absolutely love this series, though the very ominous implications of twilight’s predicament closes in ever tighter. Excited to see what happens next, onwards!