Smiles
“Minuette?”
Nothing. I wondered if she’d decided to go to bed.
“Minuette?”
I stepped out of the engineering compartment and looked around. The entire lower deck was a mess. Thankfully, the kitchen had been well secured, but there were pillows and blankets strewn all over the place. The bookcases all had enchantments to keep their books in-place no matter what—like I would ever skimp on something as important as that—but pretty much everything else that hadn’t been bolted down had tumbled. Both bedrooms were complete messes, too.
I sighed and shook my head. Great job, Moondancer. Great job.
I didn’t know where Minuette had gone off to and if she was avoiding me, I didn’t want to make things worse by trying to hunt her down. There was a lower access hatch in engineering to the sub-deck beneath this one, which contained spare parts, non-perishable foodstuffs, emergency equipment, and similar stuff. There was even an access hatch in the sub-deck designed for service mechanics and cargo loading. But that led out beneath the hull. I doubt she would have gone down there.
So, I decided to make things easier on her and just let things be. I already knew what pushing too hard could do to any kind of relationship, friendship or… otherwise. I wasn’t going to do it again.
I took a good ten minutes tidying up the lounge, dining area, and the two bedrooms. It was only when I was done with what would be Minuette’s bedroom that I heard the door to the head open and Minuette stepped out.
She came out less than a foot away from me. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, so when she looked up and saw me, she yelped and jumped backward, half her coat standing on end. She flopped onto her hindquarters and clutched her chest, breathing heavily, her eyes wide.
“Um… sorry?” I offered weakly.
A dozen emotions flashed across her face in the space of an eyeblink, which ended—surprisingly—in a simple smile. “It’s okay, Moony.”
With that, she slipped by me and peeked into the second stateroom. “Thanks for cleaning things up. I’m probably going to head to bed. Long day.”
“Minuette,” I protested, and blocked her way with a hoof. “Look, about what happened in the pass—”
Her head turned to face me and her eyes locked onto mine. Her smile faded, but only a little. “Did you have a good time?”
I hadn’t been ready for that. “Sort of? I mean, I didn’t pass the test, so—“
“Are you going to try again?” she asked.
She asked so calmly! How was she acting like this? Why was she acting like this? It was weird!
“Um… well, maybe—”
She nodded once, shrugged, and then walked the other direction, heading for a series of cabinets above the small dining room. With her magic, she pulled one open and took out a large backpack, complete with bedroll, ration packs, and even an emergency shelter. It was one of the four hiking packs I had stowed. Even Keel has insisted on them, even if I knew I wouldn’t be using them.
How had she even known those were there? I hadn’t shown them to her.
“Minuette, what are you doing…?”
She fetched a yellow hooded poncho which she slipped over her head. It covered her from back to front—which I found slightly disappointing for some reason—then turned toward the hallway that led to the upper hatch. As she walked, she began strapping on the backpack with her magic.
“I’m going to get off while you do another attempt. If your ship is in one piece afterward, please feel free to come find me. I’ll be walking back to Vanhoover.”
She said every word with a smile, though it was even dimmer than before.
“You’re kidding.”
She walked right by me, tail swishing out from beneath her poncho. I’d never noticed Minuette had such a long tail before. Then I shook my head and refocused.
“Minuette!” I cried as she reached the hatch that led to the small corridor. “I don’t mean now!”
She paused, one hoof still in the air. “So, what, tomorrow morning?”
“I was more thinking in a few months or a year,” I said honestly, rubbing the back of my head and feeling my face heat up. “That… wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve done recently.”
“What exactly?” she asked, her back still to me, her voice a little chilly.
“Attempting to run the pass. At night. In a storm. And…” I swallowed. “With a passenger who had… already shown she wasn’t the biggest fan of flying.”
She put her hoof down but didn’t turn.
“Minuette, I’m sorry,” I said, my voice cracking just a little. “I got caught up in the moment.”
“A few years ago, you never would have done something like that,” she said quietly.
“It’s been a long few years. A few years ago, I never would have stood beside you at the Battle of Unity.” I blinked. “I mean, I wouldn’t have stood beside anyone. Because I would have stayed in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Not that I would have avoided you and…”
I trailed off. More words weren’t helping. Well, the words I was using.
I could use other words.
“Minuette, please stay?”
She finally turned around. A brighter smile now decorated her face, but it was nowhere near the smile I’d seen on the Skydocks back in Vanhoover.
“No more stunts?” she asked.
“No more stunts,” I said. It helped that I hadn’t planned on any more ‘stunts’ during my original trip anyway. “Unless authorized by all passengers aboard the Wandering Blossom.”
Minuette’s smile grew a fraction and she uncinched her backpack. She floated it back to the cabinet and set it on its hook, then did the same with the poncho. Only then did I realize she had been wearing her saddlebags as well. How had I missed that?
Minuette’s blue eyes were bloodshot and her mane was sticking out at odd angles. What’s more, there looked to be a bruise forming on the right side of her face. I took a step closer and frowned. Minuette stepped back and my frown deepened.
“Would you hold still a minute?” I muttered as I yanked her forward with my magic until we were inches away. “How’d you get a bruise here?”
I touched the spot with a brush of my magic and she flinched, her ears going flat.
“Your spinning maneuver. Something came loose in the wheelhouse and hit me. I never saw what it was.”
I thought about what I had cleaned up in the wheelhouse. The only thing I could think of was a small fire extinguisher. I winced and realized that must have been one of her yells I’d tuned out.
“Well, that’s not okay,” I muttered. “Give me a second to put a cooling salve on it. It’ll reduce the swelling.”
“No, really, that’s not—”
I gave her a look that brooked no argument, and pointed to one of the galley chairs, but not before flicking a switch to disengage the magnetic braces. Minuette dutifully pulled it out and hopped up as I went over to an emergency locker and fetched one of a dozen first-aid kits.
The reason I had so many was simple: I had no idea what I was going into when I left on this trip. Some were designed for exposure to hostile elements, some were for the wilderness, some were for water survival, and some were for survival period. I also had four generic ones that could be found in most households across Equestria. Out of that, I pulled a small salve and an applicator. The salve would do the same thing as an icepack or cold compress, while actually slowly healing the bruise. If I got to it soon enough, it might prevent the bruise from fully forming.
I stepped back over to Minuette, then lifted her head to get a better view in the light above the dining room. I could already see the beginnings of the bruise. I muttered a few choice words to myself. Minuette tried to say something, but I shushed her.
It took less than a minute to apply the salve to the affected area. Thankfully, it was designed to soak through the coat and be fully absorbed into the skin, so she wouldn’t have to wear a bandage.
Finally, I dropped the kit on the table and flopped into another chair, then put my head on the table with a great sigh. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”
“It was an—”
I shot her another look. Minuette just smiled through it, but she didn’t actually continue to speak.
“So, how’d you know where the backpacks were?”
She glanced over to the cabinet. “Oh, that? When I came down here half of the cabinets and lockers were open. Most of the stuff was still inside, though. Decided I wasn’t… you know.”
I waved it away. “I don’t blame you. Before takeoff tomorrow, I’ll need to do a full survey of the ship and her systems. I wouldn’t expect to leave until sometime in the mid-afternoon. That’s assuming there’s nothing wrong.”
“And if there is something wrong?” Minuette eyed me, her smile fading into a nervous fear.
“I have replacement parts or repair kits for about ninety percent of the Blossom. If it’s part of that ten percent, then… time for a distress flare, depending on the damage.” I sighed and shook my head, my tail twitching. “It’ll be hard to see out here, beyond the mountains. We might need to wait until nightfall to send it up. Still, that’s… probably thinking too far ahead. Chances are we’ll be fine.”
Minuette nodded slowly. She moved as if to rub her cheek, but stopped herself at the last minute.
“Minuette?” I asked quietly, watching her carefully.
“Hm?”
“Why are you really out here?”
For a split second, her eyes twitched and her smile faltered. She looked at me, her big blue eyes searching mine, but I didn’t know what for. I leaned back a little, taken a little off-guard by her intensity. Minuette had said I wouldn’t have done what I did in the pass a few years ago. Well, the Minuette I knew wouldn’t be looking at me like this back then either.
For the first time, I realized we were almost strangers to one another. Again. I shivered. I didn’t like the idea.
“Moony,” she replied, an ironic smile playing across her lips. “I think we both know we have things we’d rather not talk about right now. No matter what, it has been a long night, right?”
I nodded mutely.
“Then why don’t we get some sleep?” Minuette asked. “Leave the… complicated questions for another day?”
I nodded again with a sigh. “I guess that’s a good idea.”
“One day at a time,” Minuette replied, though it had the sound of a practiced mantra.
She stood and patted me on the shoulder, then walked down the ship to the second bedroom. She hesitated before stepping inside though.
“Hey, Moony?” she called.
I watched her, still sitting in the dining room chair and suddenly wishing we’d had more than granola bars to eat for dinner. “Yeah?”
“No matter what… um… thanks for everything. For taking me.”
Without waiting for a response, she walked into the bedroom—her bedroom—and slid the door closed.
“You’re welcome, Minnie,” I whispered.
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The vessel sits still
Order restored to chaos
Travelers find peace
Glad Minnie and Moony managed to reconcile. Still, I think there's a long road ahead of them to find what they're looking for, both in the form of the treasure map, and why they're out in the wilds in the first place.
Well, that has a lot of potential implications...
Those complicated questions will raise their ugly heads in time. For now, best to enjoy the peace while it lasts.
Well, Minuette’s more assertive early on than Marina ever was. That smile as she was gearing up to leave though... that hurt.
I’m just as curious about Minuette’s reason for hoping onboard as I am about Moondancer’s, though this chapter does make for interesting theories.
Hooves crossed that there isn’t any pony that would stumble across the damaged Blossom and try to sell it for spare parts.
I wonder what has Moony so driven...
On the other hand, I see she already is more used to having Minny around than she's probably like to admit.
Really been liking this so far! Can't wait to see where it goes. I featured this on episode 304 of my podcast, Pony 411.
Still amazing and well written.
Not sure I'll ever have enough of this. :P
...wish I had an airship.