With each step I took in order to advance into Baltimare's port district, I managed to realize what that donkey from earlier meant by telling me about smells that were...well, more or less pleasant, or so I'd call them. Even my own odor quickly became drowned in a sea of different stenches, a lot of which contained a trace or two of rotten fish. It must have taken a pair of extra delicate nostrils to still smell my own sloppiness through all of this. Mine sure didn't do the trick.

In general, the city didn't seem as magnificent from up close as it did earlier. I presumed the dull shades of most its area to be nothing but a difficult lighting thing, back when I was standing on that cliff. But walking these same streets now, I happened to change my mind very quickly.

While the downtown area looked a lot fancier with its tall, multi-story buildings and all, nothing about the harbor shared their expensive appearance. Then again, I hadn't actually taken a closer look at these taller buildings, so I couldn't exactly tell about them either. As for my current surroundings, well, they appeared to me more and more like a complete and total dump. And I was being generous in my assumptions.

Most of the buildings here were constructed entirely from timber or clay, only the more wealthier inhabitants being able to afford a home made out of solid stone. One thing they all had in common were the disproportionate roofs, most of which either leaking at several places or - in case of those made from hay - even started to rot and change color. A number of inwardly shaped dents had appeared on many of the latter, all of them different sizes, naturally. Small puddles of brownish rainwater then gathered in a few, speeding up the decay process even more.

While there certainly were windows in most houses, only few of the frames actually did contain any intact glass panes. The majority was left with nothing but a number of dark, gaping holes inside their walls. If a house did in fact provide an entrance door at the intended spot, that one was usually worn out and used, bent to one side or another, with the paint falling off all over. A single look towards any of these would easily make them look hundreds of years old. Some doors had the last remnants of what looked like a red X mixed into the standard coloring, nevertheless painted onto the surface ages ago. Whatever that sort of symbol meant, it didn't make the sight any more inviting.

The streets were no better. Narrow cobblestone roads (who needs fireproof cities anyways?) ran in between the crammed housings, most of them continuing up ahead the entire time, meeting others solely at right angles. The grid created by that structure cut the entire district into neat, smaller rectangles, each of which contained about ten to fifteen buildings on one side.

The sky seemed to be the only thing in this place still clinging to its bright colorfulness, though it was largely obscured by thick columns of smoke rising up from a multitude of chimneys all over the place. I had no idea why they needed so many active fireplaces at the same time. As if the sun by itself didn't cause enough heat already, every single hour of the day and night. After all, these couldn't all just be for cooking, could they?

A number of containers and materials, none of which to be described as pleasing to any of the senses, lay scattered throughout this environment. The mix of aromas they provided would likely burn my muzzle straight off, had I dared inspecting them more closely. And let's face it, I was looking forward to anything of the like about as much as Twilight would to a meal of quesadillas. In short, I didn't. At all. Though other than her, I'd prefer any at least half-decent food to most of what I saw around here.

Torn and tattered crates and linen bags stood, sat, and lay across the entire scenery. Some of them were piled up as high as three ponies standing on top of each other. While most were obviously empty, with just some leftover spices from their former containment, I also noticed some particularly rotten scents flowing out of some. They mixed well with the mud and liquids running along the ground, giving a solid first impression. Which might not be so good, but you know. I had myself distracted by the piles of green-yellowish hay that were placed openly in front of some buildings for whatever reason. A lot of which were mixed with numerous, stinky substances whose origin I didn't even want to know about, though I did get a few ideas from their looks. Eeew.

The ponies walking in between didn't seem to be in a much better state, either. Grim and depressed faces met my gaze along the way, added to pale, emaciated bodies, and disheveled coats and manes. If the area's residents did wear any clothing (Most of them didn't, but neither did I, so who was I to judge?), these gray-brownish heaps of textile were so worn out and flea-ridden, even I had the common sense to stay a good distance away. Which meant not reaching the potential maximum number of new friends today, but I viewed that as the lesser of two evils. And that wasn't the only thing limiting me. If a pony didn't look as miserable as these did, they weren't very inviting, and inspected me with looks that were, simply put, purely hostile. I wasn't sure how to deal with that. And believe it or not, sometimes even I decide to stay passive and low-profile for a bit.

Of all the things I hadn't expected when first arriving here, this kind of scenery was well among them. Especially with the boats out on the bay, I had expected this to be a really, really wealthy place. Which I still assumed Baltimare to be in some places, if the skyscrapers to the north were any indication. Which made me wonder, how did one city manage to get so divided? I couldn't tell. And who knew? If I found out, maybe something could be done about all this. The power of friendship sure did have the potential to pull that off.

Always assuming none of this would interfere with my main quest. Because if so, I might have to put reforming the city off until later. Saving the world came first, since it was generally a bit more important. Also, as soon as the hardest work is done, finishing off the rest gets to be a lot more relaxing. Or so Granny Pie always motivated me to do my homework back in the day.

After a while, one block of buildings began to look just like the other, my surroundings quickly fading into a dull blur. Not a literal blurred out blurriness, mind you. I felt more like I didn't even notice most of them pass by, each one looking just like the other...there really wasn't anything interesting to find here, let alone fun. As for any details, well, I couldn't have cared less. Even the smell seemed to fade after a while, and I could only hope my muzzle wouldn't constantly adapt to this horrific stench. If it did, I was afraid I'd never be able to smell anything nice ever again.

You know you're in a bad neighborhood when I don't feel like making friends in that place. And right now, that was exactly what happened. There weren't even any smiles to be found here, neither real nor fake. No wonder this place went down like it did. Even my own radiant positivity faded at the second or third block of buildings I passed, gradually being replaced by an expression that was extremely skeptic, at best. But no matter what, I knew that if anypony was to bring at least a sense of laughter back into this place, I'd have to be the one. How could I still call myself bearing the element of laughter, if I failed this most basic task? Bring some of the fun back to this place seemed like the least I could do. The least I had to do.

Well, I suppose it's a position that can be a burden just as much as a blessing.

I didn't know what kind of exact details I was looking for, or if there even was anything specific I needed to be after. What was for sure was that I had to find a bunch of ponies to get me into open waters, and away from here, friends or no friends. Despite the mess around me, I felt confident something of the sort could easily be arranged. And once we'd get on our way, becoming friends would probably just come to us naturally, sooner or later.

But where would I start looking for the right ponies, then? Nopony ever taught me how the coast works; I realized that only now and maybe a few years late. A rock farm in central Equestria is pretty much the exact opposite from cities like Baltimare, and Ponyville doesn't get a lot closer, either. It literally doesn't. If you didn't get that joke, just look at a map. Apart from my long-term homes, I've only been to Manehattan a few times, but almost all my trips there were about stuff to do in the city, not at the docks. Minus a short trip to the small island where the Statue of Friendship stood...if I could even count that one.

So, how would I make this work?

This situation called for a bit of a challenge. Which wasn't so bad, just exciting, if any. I like exciting. Life would be boring without a few difficulties and obstacles thrown in one's hooves' way every now and then, after all. And somehow, the thought cheered me back up, if only for a little while. I kept trotting down the road, letting my eyes wander around, as I tried to spot someplace to start. The first steps towards handling a problem are always the hardest, and a decent approach needs to be found first. Once I managed to find something I could get a grasp on, something I dealt with before maybe, there shouldn't be any more problems. Or at least, whatever I still missed would fall into place, eventually.

Amen to granny's words, may she rest in peace.

I kept looking for a hint, just as I found it in the most unexpected of places. To my surprise, there was a wooden carriage parked on one of the roads adjacent to the one I was currently walking on. Though being slightly obscured and darkened by the shadow of the neighboring building, the bright colors of its exterior were still clearly visible. Tremendously falling out of place, mostly due to said coloring, the small, uncommon vehicle caught my attention almost immediately.

Though, on second thought, it wasn't even so much that. What really made me look twice was the sign hung from one end of the cabin, dangling from a wooden pole a few inches below the crimson saddle roof. The image embroidered on it looked vaguely familiar: A piece of turquoise silk fabric wrapping itself around a midnight blue magic wand, surrounded by a total of eight silver stars on a purplish background. A crescent moon bearing a similar shade as said backdrop was printed on the cabin door below.

I stopped dead in my tracks, one hoof automatically wandering to my muzzle, and pondered about the sight for a moment. Several rather grumpy ponies managed to push past me in the meantime, but none of them actually said anything beyond a muffled grumbling. And neither did I pay them a lot of attention right now, fully absorbed in what I saw standing before me. I had seen a carriage just like this one before...but where? Stupid catastrophic disasters messing with my skull. This was an easy one. On any other day, I'd have remembered it for sure.

Long story short, I decided to find out. This wagon, along with its potentially familiar owner could be a good place to start if I wanted to get anywhere from here. There was an empty door frame in the wall next to the cab, leading into a moss-grown, two-story building made entirely from larger rocks. Of course. As opposed to most others, its timber roof looked comparatively solid. Though that might just have been a matter of perspective, and I didn't see a whole lot of it from down here.

A gloomy atmosphere radiated from whatever lay inside, illuminated solely by a few, weak sources of light. Most of which I assumed to be candles. I also did suppose these wouldn't do very great in lighting up the scene, but they'd still be better than nothing. And the remaining darkness itself was nothing a little giggling at the ghosties couldn't take care off. In short, I didn't see any issues with stepping inside and taking a look around. Nothing to be concerned about, either. To be plain, I felt like there was a place I could start from, even if I needed to stay here for a bit longer. Which might be for the better or worse, only time would tell. But if I emerged successful, I could continue working from there. With an easy step on my hooves, I went ahead and marched through the door.

Just as I expected, the room was plunged in utter darkness. A number of small, circular tables had been planted all over the place, set in regular intervals, surrounded by a hoofful or chairs. Most of which seemed already occupied, though that wasn't always easy to tell in this morose twilight. Two or three candles were placed on each table, indeed lightening up the scene a bit, though all they let me see were a few grumpy faces engaged in quiet conversations, if at all. Some of these talks were briefly interrupted upon my entrance, their participants curiously looking up at the newcomer for a short second, before going back to discussing whatever business there was for discussion. Some others who had their back turned towards me I couldn't see at all, apart from their apparent outline.

So this was some kind of cafe? Well, it seemed like things just got better and better. Because despite the glum mood in here, if this place was anything like Sugarcube Corner back home, I most certainly did come to the right place. The one kind of business I knew how to handle was the one dealing with all sorts of sugary surprises, and these ponies probably had a vague idea what I meant. Be it pies, cakes, doughnuts, muffins, piecakes, piecakemuffins, or other...things, I probably had a perfect idea of how things worked out around here already. Brilliant. Now I only needed to find the one familiar around here, like I had expected.

Ducking my head from the narrow ceiling, as well as some occasional wooden support beams right below it, I proceeded to make my way across the room. There was some kind of counter in front of the opposite wall, and I felt determined to look for some answers over there. All in all, it seemed like the most reasonable thing to do; whoever ran this place was most likely able to provide me with them, and they would probably walk around at some place back there. The counter also usually had the best overview across the rest of the room, so if I needed to spot anyone as I did now, this would be the place to start.

Back in Ponyville it's just the same. After all, whoever is in charge of Sugarcube's during their shift needs to keep their customers in viewing distance. Just to make sure everyone's alright at all times. Or gets escorted to the little fillies' room when feeling sick...or worse. I've had a few unpleasant misfortunes to clean up after during my career. While I don't need to get into details here, one statement still stands: When dealing with this kind of enterprise, nopony ever outsmarts yours truly.

A row of somewhat improvised stools stood right in front of the messy, wooden construction which I now approached. To be honest, it all made an impression like somepony tried nailing a few boards on top of each other some generations ago, kinda to see what sticks. And the result just so happened to be a counter with stools, so they made a cafe out of it. Could be.

For some reason, ponies over here seemed to enjoy eating their snacks right by the bar itself. Or not, as I realized only now, since none of those around were actually eating anything. Apart from what I assumed to be tobacco and playing cards, there were only wooden mugs placed on the tables around me. They were held together by two flattened rings of rusty metal wrapped around the outside, kind of like the ones we used to drink from during Sweet Apple Acres' cider season.

There didn't appear to be any food inside the room, nor on the counter. I saw that once placing myself onto an empty stool, squeezing in between two ponies whose features I could barely make out, so to speak. But even from here, I couldn't spot any sort of waiter anywhere. Maybe they only offered food at special times of the day? But why was it so packed right now, then? You couldn't just spend the entire day on drinking, well...whatever it was these ponies were having. Somewhat clueless, I decided to turn to one of my neighbors. The one on the left, that was.

Oh well. Might as well make a good first impression.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. Whatcha doing?" I greeted the somewhat bulky, unshaven stallion, my tone just the casual. The smile I used to address him was barely returned, but I kept pushing on, nevertheless. "I'm new in town, and might need some advice. Could you help me with that?"

Apparently somewhat confused by my obvious and simple request, the stallion raised his head to face me, blinking a few times along the way. "Ya gotta be kidding me," he told me, lowering his gaze back to his mug without anything further to add.

"Of course not, silly." I giggled at his words. Was that a Trottingham accent? Probably. Why would I even make fun of him though, this being the first time we saw each other? We never even met up until now, as far as I could tell. "But I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to make your acquaintance, mister..."

"Don't know who yer talkin' to, huh? I hates to remind ya the hard way missy, I do."

Why, wasn't he a remarkable fellow...fella. Wha'ever. His response made me snort just as much as my own thoughts did, but I reckoned he deserved a decent answer, nonetheless. "You're not always one for laughter, that much I can tell," I told him. "But I might be able to change that, once you help me out for a bit."

An angry flaring made his nostrils widen for a moment, he started to get up, his eyes menacingly fixated on me. Considering that, it didn't take a genius or a bookworm like Twilight to figure out he'd gotten mad at me for some reason. Was it something I said? Pinkamena Diane, why can't you ever keep your blabbering, little mouth shut?

Well, whom did I just quote? Take a wild guess.

Just as he brought himself to his full height, which was impressive to say the least, a pony whose name I still didn't know tried opening his mouth to add something. I was kinda hoping for an explanation on why he acted like this. It would have helped a bit in clarifying his point, I suppose. Whatever words I was waiting for never arrived with me, however. Instead, he was cut short by a light-blue hoof dashing in from behind me, accompanied by a voice I had heard a few times before.

"Now, now. That will be enough. I suggest you get yourself another ale or anything of the sort."

And with that, I saw two coins fly past me, surrounded by a magical aura of pale magenta. They only stayed airborne for a split-second, and didn't get any further than about half a meter, before clattering on the counter right in front of him. Looking at his unexpected payment in confusion, the stallion eventually arched an eyebrow, but then only shrugged. He sat himself back down, just like nothing ever happened.

Well, okay, my approach didn't work this time. I got that. And after this reaction of his, I didn't feel all that eager to make friends with a mean, big bully like that one. I still remembered trying to pull that off with Gilda when she first visited. That was a pain in the...well, at least I didn't feel the need to go through all of it again, anytime soon. Fortunately, I actually didn't need to do so, since there still remained somepony sitting to my other side. And whoever that was seemed to be ready to help me out, so that was something. Returning to my cheerful senses within an instant, I turned myself around on the spot.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie P..." I trailed off, recognizing the face I was looking at. Now, that did of course explain the wagon parked on the street.

"Yes, I know that," Trixie replied, looking at me in a mixture of uncertainty and aggravation. Her tone was somewhat grim, which might originate from either our environment or circumstances. It did fit in pretty well, to say the least. "Long time no see. You've quite obviously gotten your muzzle back, well...sorry for the mess."

I felt at a loss of words, this sudden confrontation freaking me out a lot more than it should have. It was a small world, obviously. Here she was, the same old Trixie Lulamoon, all complete with her weird hat, cape, and forelock. Kinda like Starswirl, only a few decades younger and without half a hedge dangling from her chin...sorry, did I just say that? Anyhow, I never expected to find our favorite boasting magician in a run down place like this one. To be honest, I didn't expect to meet her again at all. Not for a really long time, at least. Even her two visits to Ponyville had been more than a year apart.

When I finally grasped what was going on, I quickly narrowed my eyes, trying to look as mistrustful as possible. Even through everything that recently happened between us, I couldn't tell for sure whether she already made the skip from the list of actual meanie-pants to the one of those we had decided to forgive. And I wasn't going to take any chances. The last time I did ended a little unfortunate.

"Well..." I began, hesitantly. Also, I might have stretched the word a bit unnecessarily long, in order to consider what I was going to say next. A few seconds, maybe more. Like, ten. Okay, twelve. Too much at least, if Trixie's raised eyebrow was any indication. "You never even cared about giving that back to me, you meanie! I had to ask Twilight to do your dirty work. Twilight! The princess of friendship!" I snorted, a lot angrier this time. "I think you should give that some thought, before I decide to forgive you for what you've done...Also, what are you even doing here, I might need some advice, that okay?"

A brief silence fell between us, while Trixie waited for a minute, letting my words sink in. Or so I supposed. I can be a bit deep sometimes, and it might take some time to fully grasp what I'm trying to say. Also, that last sentence had a completely different tone than its predecessors. Which could have been problematic to understand, but didn't have to.

"Well, first of all, I'm a traveling magician," she eventually replied, special emphasis resting on her second last word. "I'm used to show up at different places, that's my job. It's what I'm getting paid for...well, more or less. As for your mouth, I already told you that I'm sorry." With another short pause, the unicorn mare suddenly sighed, dropping some of the harsh facade surrounding her up until then. "I really am, you hear? If there's a way I can make it up to you, I'll be more than happy to do so...so, uh...what is it you need?"

Again, I was baffled. When did Trixie become that great and apologetic? She seemed like the most humble pony I've ever met, much like the exact opposite of the one I'd known before. She also seemed extremely insecure about the whole friendship thing. Well, all of that minus her reserved nature from earlier. Maybe I really should have been paying some more attention to whatever Twilight and her were talking about at the time. Of course, back then, I had my own troubles to worry about. Like not being able to breathe for a few days straight. Even I've got my limits, mind you.

Still, I needed to play this cool. If Trixie could help me, and if she really did turn herself around, which I still doubted, getting worked up about her past mistakes should be the last thing I needed to confront her with. Instead, I took a deep breath, then made up a way to explain my current issues to her. With a loud thud, I slammed both my forehooves onto the counter, looking her dead in the eye.

"I need a ship to get out into the sea. One that's like super fast because I don't have much time to lose. I'm on a special mission and I need to get somewhere really quick. The place lies across the sea, so I can't go there myself. It's located somewhere south-east from here...I guess."

"You guess?"

"I guess."

Trixie looked at me with some puzzled glances, seemingly once again unsure on how to reply. Why that was, I had no idea. It's not like I expressed myself in some overcomplicated, incomprehensible, unintelligible, or redundant sort of way. On the contrary, all I told her was that I needed to find a decent ship going in the right direction. And she'd either be able to help me with that or not. Practically, it was a simple yes or no question. And the response would have been just as easy to give.

Instead, the sky-blue unicorn trailed off, her eyes wandering on across the counter for a moment. When another grim, dark-maned stallion approached from our right a few seconds later, she motioned him over with a hoof. I had no idea where he came from, all of a sudden. Must have hidden away in the darkness or something. Trixie didn't seem all too concerned about that, somehow. "I'll have another mug of cider, alright," she told him, before adding in my direction, "you?"

"What? Oh, uh, cider sounds good, could you..."

"Make that two mugs," Trixie harshly commanded the bartender, cutting me off. She shoved a total of four bits over to him, just as he took them without much of a notion and disappeared again, leaving the reach of the weak light thrown by the candles around us. For some reason, none of the ponies in this place seemed especially talkative. Then again, with this kind of scenery surrounding them all day, I really didn't know what else to expect.

A worried frown across her muzzle, Trixie turned back to face me, her voice dropping a good few decibels in the process. "Generosity...am i doing this right? Anyway..." she paused for a moment, scratching her chin. "Are you sure about this? That...journey, I mean? As much as I want to help you, I really don't think a pony like you belongs in this place, let alone the ships leaving the harbor. You honestly should try to reconsider that idea at least. I mean...you have been to Baltimare before, haven't you?"

I shook my head in response. "Nope, can't say so. Love what they've done to the place though."

Expressing some sympathy could never be wrong, right? If any, it would buy me these ponies' sympathies right back.

As I could once again tell from her arched eyebrow, however, Trixie didn't seem to think so. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and take that as a sarcastic notion," she explained. "But still, that's pretty much what I thought. You didn't know about Baltimare before or anything that lies beyond it...safe maybe for an approximate direction, right? I know it's not what most ponies expect, and this city has been horribly divided between rich and poor for a while now...to be honest, I don't even remember it ever being any different. No offense, but you don't seem to know what you're getting yourself into."

"Sure I do, silly. Why wouldn't I?" Well, she couldn't remember that, alright. Which didn't have to mean anything. Based on Trixie's features, I always took her to be a few years younger than myself, but I decided not to go there just now. Asking that other, more direct question instead, I did my best to ignore the handful of somewhat amused faces turning in our direction. Maybe though, Trixie did have a point in lowering her voice. I decided to follow that for now.

"Well, for starters, this..." she began, only to be cut short by the bartender pony, who put our mugs of cider down to our muzzles right at that instant. She replied to him with a soft, simple nod that could hardly be seen from more than a few feet away. But that was all she needed to do, I made sure of that. A grateful smile, followed by a number of words from myself thanking him for his kindness surely were sufficient to make up for the expression she lacked. Some low chuckling from the room behind us did proof that I once again perfected my role as the bearer of laughter. See? Making others cheer up isn't that hard. However, I still wasn't so sure about what kind of game Trixie was playing.

"That wasn't very nice of you," I remarked, both eyes darting back to the stallion for a second to clarify my point.

"We're not in a nice place." Without looking up to face me, Trixie continued to inspect her cider for a little while before casually taking a sip. "In these parts, you'll have to be careful about what you say. And to be honest, you do appear a bit naive, even now...I'd rather try to conceal that a little if I were you." Her voice barely above a whisper she added, "a steady resolve is one of the few things protecting you from the dangers around here. And trust me, there are a number of those in Baltimare to be concerned about, especially for a mare.

"I'm still not so sure how you got here, but I'd also hate to leave you alone in this place. If it helps you any, I'll be leaving for Fillydelphia first thing tomorrow. You can come along, if you want. They have a port up there as well. Not as busy as this one, but still they do. I don't know how much you'd be about to risk for that mission of yours, if you stay here for more than a few days."

I looked at her in bewilderment. I couldn't just stroll along the coast for all eternity, hoping I'd get to my destination eventually. Did she honestly just propose that? "I can't just leave, now. This mission is way, way too important for me to simply step away from it. I have to get on with my journey, the lives of many important ponies depend on that!"

It probably was the part about ponies' lives being at risk that helped bring her around. At the very mention, Trixie's eyes widened a good deal, and the gears behind them seemed to finally be put into some hard work. "Well, I shouldn't..." she stuttered. "I don't think I should be the one making this decision, but whatever. Uh...listen, I'll go around and see whether I can find someone who might be willing to tuck you along." Standing up, she strictly motioned towards me with a hoof. "Just...just keep sitting here, and try not to cause a ruckus, okay? Don't move, don't go anywhere, and try to avoid the others. I'll be right back."

And just like that, she brushed past me and disappeared somewhere in the gloomy depth of whatever I should call this house. Because I felt increasingly unsure on whether this could actually be defined as a cafe. We didn't normally serve cider at Sugarcube Corner, after all. Which was mostly because the Apples were our friends and we didn't want to cause them any competition. Still, it didn't even taste like something that would belong in a cafe. Wherever I was, I couldn't recall any place in Ponyville to specifically compare it to. Safe, maybe, for Berry Punch's basement, though I haven't ever been there. Even now, I looked around one more time, but out of the few faces I spotted none were in any way inviting. And after the obscenities thrown at me earlier, or whatever those were supposed to be, I knew better than not to keep to myself.

Time started creeping along slowly from there on out. With nothing but a mug of cider to keep me company, my surroundings became even more dull with each passing minute. Much like when I was trotting along the street outside, I didn't feel like paying them a whole lot of attention after a while. Especially since there were only a few details I could make out in the bad lighting. And even those started to fade into one another, until dragging along felt like swimming through an endless stream of honey.

And while honey can be sweet and tasty and all, it's definitely super annoying to swim through. I've tried that once while Discord was in power. At some point, he actually did turn one of the smaller rivers near Ponyville into honey, and upon realizing what he did, I just couldn't help myself. In the end though, the whole thing turned out to provide only a fraction of the fun it initially promised. After only a few minutes of trying to push myself forward, I simply went back to emptying some more chocolate rain clouds, not paying it any more attention.

Now, that annoying, miserable feeling was back, and I didn't feel like I could live up to the challenge. Sit still and wait for Trixie to return, that was. A pony like me feels the constant urge to just jump up, leap around loudly as much as I can, and make as many friends as I can in the process. It's called fun. Look it up.

Using some of the coins I stored away inside my mane before leaving home, I was able to get myself a couple more rounds of cider. That way, at least waiting for Trixie was a bit more endurable. The cool taste of apples rushing down my throat couldn't make my worries go down with it, but at least I could kill some time along the way. But even so, I still got bored. Did I have to go to sleep in order to make time pass a bit faster? Did I even have to sleep at all tonight? And where? All of which were questions that didn't help me calm down in the slightest. Or sit back and relax. Which is probably the same thing, but whatever.

Looking for distractions, I started drumming my forehooves on the counter in quick intervals, until the grunting of a nearby pony made me stop. What, wasn't I supposed to enjoy myself in here, or something? What did these ponies even do for fun, if none of this would be allowed? I had positively no idea, and the depressed atmosphere in this place started getting to me even more.

Another idea came to mind. Maybe this was some kind of saloon? That would explain a few differences to back home. I'd been to one of those while in Appleloosa. And there sure as hay would be another one somewhere around Dodge Junction, even though I hadn't seen it when last visiting the place. Maybe this whole drinking hall business was nothing but a southern thing, which I hadn't noticed so far? I'd probably have to interview my favorite country-ish cousin about that.

Of course, looking at it now, the saloon in Appleloosa sure did make a similar impression to the room I was in right now. Especially with being more beverage-focused and all that, even though the mood would be a bit different. As for the cider, well, I saw several reasons for that in one of the two, at least. It probably wasn't that hard getting a whole lot of apple cider with dozens of apple trees all around the town.

But this wasn't Appleloosa, and neither did I come here as some kind of family trip. I needed answers, amongst an opportunity to get out of here, leave for the open sea, and find what I was supposed to find, where I was supposed to find it. And I needed those answers right now. Where did Trixie even go to? After this amount of time, she'd probably just packed up her carriage and left for Fillydelphia. Which I could only recommend. Without my special mission, I'd have done the same. Still, she seemed so nice just now, so...reformed. I couldn't believe she just ditched me like this, and now she was gone...oh, wait. There she was.

Pushing back through the rows of chairs and tables, the unicorn mare once again approached me, her hat hanging even lower into her face this time. I guess she really was trying to stay anonymous around here. Why though? Had she become popular without me noticing? Sorry for having some more important things on my mind. Besides, I'm not always super well informed on who's famous in this country and who isn't. Ask Rarity about that. She's the expert.

"Alright, I've..." Trixie began, but I didn't even want to hear that kind of apology after hours of agonized waiting.

"Oh my gosh, where have you been?" I burst out. "I've been mentally starving over here, I thought you made it halfway to Filly by now! Do you have any idea how not-fun that was? And to think I trusted you..."

Trixie blinked in confusion. "Huh? I've been gone for, like, two minutes...don't you ever look at the time?"

Oh. Well, I really didn't. But explaining that would have taken even more time right now, so I decided against that. No need for further delay, after all.

"Anyway, I think I've found some ponies who might take you aboard. And they're headed in the right direction, as well."

"Really?" I felt my eyes widen as she told me so. "That's fantastic! Do they have a super fast ship, like I asked? I need to get where I need to get as quickly as possible, wherever that is, and..."

"Yes, of course. Follow me, alright?"

And with that, she motioned towards the opposite end of the room and started moving back into said direction. Just like there wasn't a second to lose. So she was catching up with me, at last. Emptying out the last sip from my cider mug, I jumped off my chair and followed suit. If Trixie was telling the truth just now, she really did manage to turn herself around. And the thought alone started to provide a little more light in the darkness around me. If not, well...I'd just have to keep looking for help elsewhere.

A smile on my face, I started to march past the first rows of tables, not minding the looks I got from those around me. All I had to do now was make a few new friends, whom I'd meet just now, go on a small cruise with them, save the world, and go back home so everything would be as it was back before the attack happened. Through all my excitement, I could tell this was going to be a breeze. I'd get this done, alright. Nothing a super party pony couldn't handle.

Also, it was going to be fun. Everything's better with a little bit of fun. Next Chapter: Chapter 10 - Renegades of Fun Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 44 Minutes