No one enjoys disappointing those you care for. That creeping feeling of dread when you start to sense that you will end up failing someone important in your life. That moment of despair when you realize that you’ve passed the point of no return. And that awful feeling of guilt that remains afterwards. No, disappointing someone can be a terrible burden to carry. But sometimes there are ways to rectify your mistake, and sometimes you can take measures to lessen the impact of the final result. One thing always stays the same though, and that is the act of promising yourself that you’ll never end up in such a situation again. We draw knowledge from our mistakes after all.

Rainbow paced back and forth outside the cabin that Cloud shared with Gilda. He had all but ordered her to speak with her or else she would be forced to return home. No wait scratch that. He had ordered her! She realized. But even if it was an order, gathering the courage to face her old friend did not go swimmingly. It had been so long since that first incident, and she had felt torn after that one. So now with a second incident in recent memory, were she had pretty much played the bad guy, she was anything but calm. Argh why does this have to be so hard?! I’m supposed to be the element of loyalty for Celestia’s sake! She thought angrily.

“Buck!” She cursed loudly moments before giving her wings an irritated flap.

As chance would have it Gilda had picked that very moment to open the door to the cabin she had been outside. She gave Rainbow a withering look before turning away from her, heading towards the upper deck. Smooth Rainbow, just smooth. She berated herself. But now I don’t have to knock anymore. I just need to call out. She realized. Rainbow opened her mouth but no words would come out. Come on she’s right there! She thought angrily, trying again. But was only able to produce a strangled sound as Gilda reached the stairs leading up and out. Come on! She thought, somewhere between angry and desperate.

“Wait!” She managed to croak out, causing the griffin to pause and turn her head.

Gilda raised a questioning eyebrow as she looked at her, but again Rainbow’s voice failed her. For a few more seconds they stood there before Gilda scoffed and started moving away again. Panic filled Rainbow as she realized that she was running out of time. She drew a deep breath and just shouted the words she had been trying so hard to say.

“I’m sorry!” The words bounced around in the cramped hallway, sounding almost hollow. But it caused the griffin to stop again.

Slowly Gilda turned her head to face Rainbow once more and this time she wore a difficult to read expression. When nothing but silence followed Rainbow forced herself to continue.

“I’m sorry for what happened the day before yesterday, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions, I’m sorry for how I acted and I’m sorry for what happened those years ago, but back then you were at fault too!” She blurted out in hurry, leaving her gasping for air.

Gilda stayed there observing her for a second. Then she lifted one of her claws and moved as if she would take a step towards Rainbow. But something flashed across her face and she turned back towards the stairs and left Rainbow behind in the hallway. At that point Rainbow felt whatever energy and courage she had managed to muster leave her all at once. At that point Rainbow did something she rarely did, she gave up.

She sat down on her haunches, head hanging and ears drooping, and wallowed in her self-pity. She had tried and failed. Am I going to go home now? She wondered to herself as she stared at the floorboards. And as she sat there, seconds slowly ticking away becoming minutes, she lost track of the world around her. Her mind conjuring the disappointed faces of her friends and in the forefront she saw Gilda turn and walk away from her. She wanted to cry out again, to tell her to wait again. But her subconscious failed to produce a sound just as much as the real one had.

Then suddenly, as the bleakness she was feeling threatened to consume her she felt a weight on her shoulder. She sluggishly turned her head to see what had caused the sudden weight and found a familiar hand resting on her shoulder.

“You tried didn’t you?” Cloud asked, his tone very different from what he had used before.

With Cloud right there in front of her she felt her eyes begin to water. She hurriedly turned away from him again, trying to wipe her eyes with a hoof.

“I failed…” She managed to whisper out.

“Oh, did you now? Did Gilda tell you that she never wanted to see you again? That you should leave? Cause if she did that then yes, you have failed.” Cloud said patiently.

Gilda hadn’t said that. She realized. “No.” She said, her voice still quiet.

“Then as far as I’m concerned you haven’t failed yet Rainbow. But I needed to know if you were willing to at least try to patch things up with her.” He said calmly as if he had stated something obvious.

Her anger flared for a brief moment and she gave it words. “You had me do that just to prove that I wanted to save our friendship?! I could have just told you that!” She barked out.

In an instant Cloud’s eyes were like cold flames. “Yes! I had you do all that because in situations like these actions ring truer than any words! Without the proper desire to take action, to prove that you want to make things right. Words are, however pretty, meaningless.” He admonished her sternly, and she shrank back from his ire.

“But you tried.” He began again in a softer tone after letting a few seconds pass. “You tried and proved that you want to try to make things right. I will talk to Gilda, I know that deep down she wants to make up with you too. But a lot of old wounds have resurfaced for her lately. Not to mention that trust is one of the hardest things you can try to regain. So you will have to give her time. Perhaps more time than this mission will take, perhaps less. I cannot tell you with any sense of certainty how long this will take.” He told her, his voice again the very essence of patience.

At this point she was drinking in every word Cloud was saying, silently praying that what he said was true. She knew that she shouldn’t doubt him, that he wasn’t one to sugarcoat things. But then again, he wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy of individuals at all times.

“So I am not going to have to leave?” She asked, trying her best to keep her voice neutral.

“Not unless you really fuck it all up again no. I meant every word I said earlier you know, however I didn’t expect this to be something you two would solve with just a talk. That being said I needed you to stop tip toeing around the issue like a nervous wreck.” He told her, his eyes flashing dangerously again.

She could only nod and swallow as his latest words started to sink in as well.

“Good, as long as you understand that’s fine. Now if you excuse me I have griffin to talk too.” He said before standing up and walking away in the same direction Gilda had gone earlier.

He has definitely gone back to the eloquently blunt Cloud I first got to know. She thought as she watched him leave. Strangely enough that felt reassuring, Cloud back then had been dependable. Even when everypony had been turned against him he had forged his own path, seemingly without a care in the world. She had never told anypony, not that she would admit it anyway, but the state Cloud had been in when he had returned had troubled her.

I ascended the stairs leading to the upper deck while pondering what I had learned from my most recent talk with Rainbow. All in all things had gone as I had expected them to, but giving Rainbow Dash a forceful push in the right direction wouldn’t be enough. My pending talk with Gilda would play a big part here and even without that the determining factor would be time. The future for their friendship was uncertain, it may mend or it may end up breaking further. However one thing was clear to me, and that was that I could only act as a mediator. The real choices had to come from them, whether they realized this or not I did not know though.

Pushing open the door that led to the upper deck revealed the ship’s sailors working away at a multitude of tasks which purposes exceeded my understanding of nautical transportation. The inquisitive part of me wished that I could spare some time to ask them about their activities and learn from it. However I doubted that my troubled mind would retain anything that was explained to me at the moment, not to mention that I was in fact looking for Gilda. And so I let my eyes sweep across the deck until I spotted her familiar shape near the bow of the ship.

Making my way over to where Gilda stood proved to be an easy task. Although I still heard the occasional whisper from the sailors, my presence still unsettled them it seemed. I ignored their superstitions though as I stepped up beside Gilda. But instead of saying anything I just sat down, looking out over the bulwark into the vast sky and the water rushing past a few hundred meters beneath us. The silence lasted for a few minutes before it was broken by Gilda.

“Rainbow tried to talk with me earlier.” She said, still looking straight ahead at the skyline. And instead of answering I opted to remain silent.

“She said that she was sorry, sorry for a lot of things. I didn’t know what to do Cloud. There’s so much that I don’t know how to deal with right now.” She continued, still not turning her head.

With that she fell silent again, as if carefully pondering her own words. Then after a few more minutes of silence she spoke again.

“So have you come to make me talk to her?” She asked, finally turning her head to look at me.

I meet her gaze for a few seconds then turned my head skywards, observing the large balloon above us as I answered. “No, that is entirely up to you. But I believe that you probably already have decided whether you want to talk to her or not Gilda. I know that the two of you were friends once but that doesn’t decide your future. That choice always belongs to the present. Although if you are uncertain about what to do you can always ask me.” I offered diplomatically.

“I want to be her friend again, she was the only real friend I had. However I’m not sure that things can just go back to how they were. Not to mention that I’m worried sick about Stella.” Gilda said after a few moments of silence.

“Then let it take its time. No one is expecting you to just bury what happened in the past. Sure things may be awkward for a while but at least you know that your heart is in the right place.” I told her, turning my head to look at her again.

A weak smile appeared on her features. “It’s not fair you know. How you do that. How you just walk up here and know exactly what to say.” She accused me.

“Oh I don’t know if half the things I say will end up infuriating someone or not. If I truly knew what to say I wouldn’t have to resort to my lies, I wouldn’t have had to leave in the first place and I wouldn’t have ended up causing those I care for so much stress. No, I truly don’t know what to say. However I will speak my mind even if the words end up being harsh.” I told her, turning my gaze towards the horizon.

In my periphery I could see Gilda quietly observing me, most likely processing what I had just told her. At this point I doubted that there would be any further exchange of words though. After all with the matter of Rainbow Dash having been more or less addressed her thoughts would more than likely return to Stella, just like mine already were in the process of doing. With that I closed my eyes and let myself fall backwards onto the deck, the afternoon sun still pleasantly warm even though summer had passed. And surprisingly I found sleep on that sun bathed deck. For when I opened my eyes again the light had changed. I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, and found that the sun was now nothing more than a bright orange sliver about to disappear over the horizon.

She watched Cloud lean back onto the deck, his eyes closed, and soon she could hear his breathing change into the steady pace of somegriff sleeping. How can he possibly fall asleep like that? Isn’t he worried at all?! She thought with an angry huff, but almost instantly regretted it. She shouldn’t be angry with him, he cared for Stella like a sister. Or at least she thought he did if the anger he had displayed when she was threatened was anything to go by. I guess I should be glad that at least one of us will be able to find some sleep. She thought instead, as she watched his chest slowly rise and fall with his breathing.

She stayed there beside him for another couple of minutes before her restlessness got to her and she stood up once again with the intent of going back to her cabin. She only had time to take a few steps though before one of the sailors came rushing over.

“You don’t intend to just leave that there do you?” The sailor who happened to be a unicorn mare blurted out.

At first Gilda was confused as to what the mare was referring to, but as she followed the sailors gaze she came to realize that it was Cloud she was talking about. I wonder why they are so afraid of Cloud? She thought idly before answering.

“So what if I am?” She challenged.

“Nono, you can’t! It will bring the omen! The omen I tell you!” The mare all but shouted.

Gilda’s right eye twitched in irritation. “Listen here lady. That one that you keep calling an it is as close to brother that I ever had! So I suggest that you start referring to him as a living being or ask if you can use his name. You read me?” She growled out.

The mare shied back a bit before weakly protesting. “But the omen-”

“You keep saying that, do you even know what that omen is?” Gilda interrupted the sailor.

Before things could escalate further another sailor cut in, this one being slightly familiar. And after a moments’ thought Gilda identified him as the sailor they had met right before they boarded.

“Breeze go help the chef prepare dinner.” He addressed the mare in a no nonsense tone.

The mare now identified as Breeze quickly disappeared from the upper deck all while muttering about the omen.

The male sailor turned to Gilda after having watched his fellow sailor leave the deck. “I’m sorry about Breeze, she has a tendency to get worked up about the smallest of things. Well in this case I guess it’s quite understandable, your friend has caused quite the stir in the crew after all.” He said to Gilda in an apologetic tone.

Gilda just nodded instead of answering she didn’t really feel like holding a conversation right now.

“Not one for words, heh? Well I won’t keep you miss. Again I’m sorry about Breeze.” He said, turning to walk away.

However one question seemed to bubble up to the surface of Gilda’s thoughts. “Wait, I have one question.” She called out before she knew what she was doing.

The still nameless pegasus stopped mid step and turned back around to face her again. “Alright, what do you want to know?” He asked.

“Why are you seeing Cloud as an omen?” She inquired.

The pegasus stayed silent for a second before answering. “I’m afraid that it has to do with superstition. We sailors are an easily spooked bunch when it comes to seeing signs. It can be old things like rain on the first day carries promise of a safe return, or the sighting of a natural rainbow which often leads to profitable opportunities. However every so often new signs pop up, and about a month ago stories started to circulate about a large winged creature that had appeared on a ship just outside of Trottingham. The stories spread and soon the creature was synonymous with an omen, but ever since then there have been no more sightings. Until your friend showed up and caused a stir among the crew that is.”

“Well that’s a load of made up nonsense if I ever heard it. Cloud isn’t some sort of omen, he’s my friend and he is something called a human. Now if you excuse me.” She told the pegasus before walking past him, not waiting for an answer.

All ponies are crazy! She thought with an irritated snort as she pushed open the door leading below deck. She just wanted this ship to hurry up so that she could resume the search for Stella. Hopefully her dad had found out something regarding where she was, or at least had found somegriff to help.

Outside the barred window she could hear the rain gently pelting the walls of her prison. She knew every inch of this room by now and that didn’t change a single thing. Sure she put up a brave front but the truth was that she was scared. No, not scared she was terrified, all she wanted was to scream and not stop screaming until she got away from this horrid place. But making noises didn’t sit well with her captors and she didn’t want them to hit her again like they had done last time she made an unwanted noise.

The sound of metal scraping against metal followed by a loud clicking signaled that somegriff had just unlocked the door. One of her captors entered, and without sparing her a glance he all but threw a plate with some unidentifiable excuse for food onto the ground before leaving the way he came. Trembling she approached the plate, almost gagging at the smell of its contents. She felt tears creep into her eyes as she did her best to muffle her oncoming sobs. Please, I don’t want to be here any longer. She thought desperately.

Author's Notes:

Well here's chapter 15. It's unfortunately of the shorter variant but on the bright side we have now dealt with all the major things I wanted to bring up on the ship. That being said I realize now that I never named said ship, why don't you give me a few suggestions in the comments? I hope you enjoyed the chapter despite the length though and that you look forward to the next one.

Anyway next chapter is being worked at under the title, Clouds gather.