Pinkie

The party pony stood amongst her friends, waiting for the lavender alicorn to return and let them know what was happening. The others were talking to each other, though Fluttershy remained silent beside Applejack.

Come on, Twilight. Hurry up. I don’t know what’s going on with Spike and Rarity, but judging by the fact that Princess Celestia herself asked to speak with her it can’t be good. She struggled to keep her mind clear of all of the horrible implications that were brought along with the princess’ intervention, but found it more and more difficult to remain calm with each passing second. Although, I’m not really the calm type. Hmm.

“What’s taking her so long?!” cried Rainbow Dash across from her, breaking Pinkie from her pondering. “Rarity and Spike could be in danger and they’re all probably having tea right now! We have to go after them!”

“How, Rainbow?” Applejack countered, stepping forward a few steps to be standing in front of the cerulean pegasus. “We don’t even know where to go! We can’t just buy train tickets like this, and they might not even be on the train that they said they’d take! If it’s something that concerns the princess then we can’t go gallivanting around chasin’ shadows.”

“Ooh! But that sounds like fun!” Pinkie exclaimed beside Applejack, bouncing happily like she always did. That gallivanting part sounds especially fun, whatever that means. “What does gallivanting mean?”

Before a response could be made, the four friends heard a sound resonating from the middle of the library. Pinkie turned and covered her eyes as she saw a bright light shine from the center of the tree. Whoa! What a neat light show. Where can I get the machines for that kind of effect? When she brought her hoof away from her eyes, she gasped. Twilight lay on the floor of the library, her lavender and pink mane falling lazily over her face.

Pinkie and the rest of the group quickly moved to help the pony, and slowly brought her to her hooves. Fluttershy trotted over, muttering worried words as she aided Applejack in bringing Twilight over to a kitchen chair.

“Easy there, pony girl. Just relax for a minute. Ah’m sure that teleporting great distances really takes it out of a gal.” The orange mare sat down in front of Twilight, flanked by her other three friends. They traded worried glances at one another before hearing a groan emanating from Twilight.

Pinkie was biting her lip in worry. I hope Twilight’s okay. I know it was important though, otherwise the princess wouldn’t have had Twilight endanger herself like that. Before Pinkie could speak aloud what she had thought, the lavender alicorn raised a hoof. She sat up straight in her seat and took a calming breath. “I’m okay. I know I can’t go anywhere right now in my current condition, but I can still tell you what is going on.”

“W-well, Twilight,” Fluttershy inquired softly, folding her wings against herself. “What did the princess have to say about Spike and Rarity’s trip?”

The studious alicorn took a few more calming breaths before shuffling in her chair to be more comfortable. She gazed at each of her friends, a stern expression covering her features. “Princess Celestia had some bad news. She knows where Spike is going and it isn’t the Griffin Kingdom.”

“Well then where in tarnation has he and Rarity gone?”

Twilight sighed and used the table to push herself up to her hooves. She walked into the center of the room and sat on her haunches, Pinkie’s eyes never leaving the pony. “She thinks he’s going to find dragons.”

Each of them gasped in surprise, none so loudly as the party mare. Rainbow took off from the ground and flew into the air angrily. “What?! What is he thinking? Didn’t he learn his lesson the last time he tried to track down some dragons?!”

“Rainbow, calm down,” the farm pony yelled up to her, walking closer to Twilight. “There’s no point in gettin’ upset over this. What’s done is done.” Applejack placed a hoof across Twilight’s shoulder, earning a smile from her; however it seemed more like a grimace to Pinkie.

“That’s just it. What about Rarity?” Rainbow asked, spreading her front legs out in front of her to emphasize her point. “I bet she knew about this little plan of his. Why didn’t she tell us about what they were planning if she knew what he was doing?” Maybe Rainbow Dash was right about this, Pinkie thought into her hoof. But Rarity wouldn’t do that if she didn’t absolutely have to.

“Maybe Spike made her promise not to tell us,” Fluttershy suggested, shaking the little pony from her imaginings. Pinkie nodded her head in silent agreement to what the pegasus said.

Twilight placed a hoof under her chin in thought. “That would make sense. I mean, nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise. Applejack learned first hoof about that.” Applejack locked eyes with the pink pony briefly, most likely seeing the hidden annoyance in those cerulean eyes of Pinkie’s. She gulped and looked away.

Applejack cleared her throat nervously. “Yeah, I remember.”

The pink mare grinned smugly, hearing Applejack’s response and believing that she meant every word. Yep, and you’ll never make that mistake again.

“Well, it’s either that, or Spike finally lost it and foalnapped Rarity again…” Pinkie Pie glanced over at the pegasus confusedly, seeing that the others were glaring at her. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, folding her wings against her sides as she landed beside Pinkie and Fluttershy. “What?”

“This is no time for jokes, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight lectured, pushing herself up from her seat in order to stand. Pinkie turned back and watched the pony cautiously just in case she lost her balance and fell, but quickly thought that her worries were unfounded. “Spike and Rarity are in real danger! You remember what happened with those teenage dragons during the Great Dragon Migration. What about adult dragons?”

“What are we going to do, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, noticeably nervous about the developing situation.

Twilight sighed and walked forward, over to the staircase. “I talked with Princess Celestia about it and she thought that they would travel to the Ibexian Tundra. So we’re going after them.” At that, Pinkie’s eyes brightened. She bounced after her yelling happily.

She saw Rainbow take to the air again, zooming past her and punching the air excitedly. “Alright!! Field trip!! It’s been a while since I could stretch my wings.”

“Hip hip hurray! And when we catch up to them and see dragons, we can all have a super duper fun party extravaganza!” The excitable pony jumped up to the ceiling in one big leap and resumed her usual bouncing around the room. Wow! It feels like forever since I did this…like, longer than a minute since the last time. I wonder what Rarity and Spike are doing right now. Probably not bouncing, but flying around most likely. That thought caught her attention. She decreased her scale of bound, distracted by a second thought of hers. Oooh, I bet Spike is happy that he can fly Rarity around now. Who wouldn't be happy that they could fly?

“Well…normally I would be terrified of…e-even seeing a dragon from far away.” When Pinkie heard that little voice, she ceased her bouncing all together and turned around to face Fluttershy. She was hiding behind her light pink mane slightly, appearing fearful. “I-I mean…we’ve only gone out of our way to see a dragon once, b-but…if Rarity and Spike are in trouble…I’ll come along as well.”

Upon hearing this from the timid mare and seeing the determined look following it, Pinkie snapped out of her sly imaginings and hopped over to comfort Fluttershy. “Wow. Me and Rarity’s teachings really have made you more brave. I’m proud of you, Fluttershy.”

“M-m-me…t-t-too.”

Applejack nodded, sitting on the opposite side of Fluttershy. She glanced at each of the ponies with curiosity. “Well alright. Does anypony know where this Ibexian Tundra is located?”

“From the maps that the princess gave me,” Twilight answered, coming back down the stairs with a large book in her magical grasp. She was flipping through it intently, probably searching for something inside its pages. “it’s outside of Equestrian territory. It’s southwest of here, on the most western continent in the world. The Ibexian Tundra is a frozen place that’s in a permanent state of snow and ice, so you’ll want to dress warmly.”

The cerulean pegasus lowered down to look at the book that Twilight had briefly, before zooming back to the ground in front of Pinkie. “What are we waiting for? The longer we take to get ready, the farther those two get ahead of us.”

“Rainbow’s right ya’ll. We’ve gotta git ready right away.”

Twilight nodded her head, glancing at each of her friends. Pinkie was bouncing sporadically beside Fluttershy now, excited at the prospect of traveling outside of Equestrian territory. Well, whether or not Spike is taking Rarity to a place with dragons, he sure knows how to set up great vacation spots. Ooh! Maybe that’s what this is. Maybe those two are already going out and Spike just wanted to go somewhere special. But that would mean that we would be disturbing them.

“We’ll have to be quick if we’re to make the next train,” the alicorn shut the book and placed it in a saddlebag resting off to the right, near a bookshelf. She brought the bag onto her back with her aura and turned to Pinkie. “Pack warmly and make sure you bring food and camping supplies. We’ll meet at the train station.

“Woohoo! It’s go time! So let’s go, go, go!” Without waiting for a reply, the party pony zoomed off toward the door of the library.

“Pinkie, wait,” called Twilight, causing the pink blur to stop in mid-air to glance back for instruction. The others were all standing now, looking either curiously or confusedly at Pinkie. The lavender mare turned around and began marching up the stairs again. “I need to talk to you for a moment, before you go and prepare. I won’t be long getting my bags ready and then we can head over to Sugarcube Corner.”

“Okie dokey lokie!” Pinkie bounded up the staircase behind Twilight, waving goodbye to the others as they went to pack their own belongings for the arduous trip. The scholarly pony began to rummage through her belongings when they reached her room, sorting out what she would need while away.

Pinkie allowed her to grab her saddlebags and whatever else she needed; her attention was elsewhere anyway. She wandered around the room, occasionally taking in the décor of the upper floor. Rainbow Dash did have a point back at Fluttershy’s cottage. Rarity has been treating Spike way differently from before. And not only that, but Rarity agreed to go with him to dragon lands. She told me about when she went to find Spike during that dragon migration we watched, but I never expected her to volunteer to go somewhere so dangerous.

The usually bouncy pony broke off from her thoughts upon seeing Twilight tossing things aside hurriedly in an attempt to be prepared for the coming journey. Pinkie sat down on her haunches and stared out the window of the upper floor of the library, wondering where her two friends were right now. I suppose that explains why she left all of her usual luggage behind. She always has to take a bunch of clothes to change into when going somewhere fancy like a castle, but I guess she thought that fire-breathing dragons and clothing don’t mix too well.

Pinkie turned her head, hearing Twilight place the last items into her saddlebags and shrug them on. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” Pinkie asked as she watched Twilight make for the stairs. Guessing that her friend was ready to depart for Sugarcube Corner, the excitable mare followed along.

“It’s about Spike and Rarity,” the alicorn replied, startling Pinkie slightly as they descended to the first floor of the library. “I know that over the years, you and Rarity have gotten to know one another quite well. I heard from her how you were working on a dress together and that you just spent more time together.” Twilight hesitated, biting her lip as she dropped her gaze.

The two of them were standing in the middle of the living room, though at this point Pinkie was more concerned with the alicorn’s state of mind than where they were. Twilight, what are you trying to say? thought Pinkie, even though she knew where this conversation was headed. She watched patiently as the lavender mare turned away from her. “I couldn’t ask Rarity, even if she were here right now, so I need to ask you something.”

The party pony stopped bouncing immediately. Twilight still had her back turned, so Pinkie couldn’t tell what expression her face held at the time. Just ask me, Twilight. I know that you need to ask somepony. The other mare spun around, a unwavering expression crossing her face.

“I need you to be honest with me…please.” Pinkie gulped and nodded slightly at her friend. “How does Rarity feel about Spike? She has to have had some change in four years. Please, Pinkie.”

The look in her eyes said it all: full of desperation and dread at the coming response. I can’t just hide everything like I did with Rainbow Dash. She was just mad and frustrated, but Twilight is scared. I promised them both that I wouldn’t tell anypony how they felt about each other, but at least I can tell her how I thought her opinion of Spike has changed. Pinkie took a deep breath, walking toward the front door. She heard the alicorn keeping pace with her as she sorted her thoughts about the Rarity and Spike situation into coherent sentences. Hopefully Pinkie could alleviate some of the stress that Twilight was feeling with what she learned, talking to Rarity over the years.

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Pinkie began sympathetically, watching how she worded her answers carefully. “I Pinkie promised Rarity that I would keep what we talked about between us.” The words hung in the air all around the room. The party mare kept her cyan eyes directly on Twilight, trying to determine every emotion and reaction that she would have toward this topic. Please, Twilight. Please understand. You have to.

As if on cue, the studious alicorn let her head drop to stare at the floor. They stopped together and Twilight’s shoulders slumped forward. She sighed, looking to Pinkie like she had suddenly given up on ever seeing Spike or Rarity again. “Alright…I understand,” she whispered, sitting on her haunches as she continued to stare at the wooden floor of the library.

Pinkie bit her lip, never seeing her friend look so defeated before. She’s asking me this for Spike. She needs to know that there’s still a chance that Rarity will like him, but…do I even think that there is? She thought back to her conversation with the proper lady, hearing the sincerity in her voice when she spoke of how she had treated the dragon so poorly in the past, and how she wanted to make up for it now.

Then there was what Rarity had said to her at the door: how she thought she had been selfish all of this time. You’re not a selfish pony, Rarity. Not if you feel guilty about hurting Spike’s feelings. That stern expression that Pinkie held back then returned, as her memories continued to float past her. She walked silently over to Twilight, the other mare failing to notice her approach.

Pinkie Pie sat in front of her friend, continuing to think of how much her elegant friend had changed and matured over these few days that Spike had returned. He really brings out the best in her, doesn’t he? I really hope that she sees that too. At that, Pinkie smiled softly. Probably; otherwise why would she go with him on an adventure like this? Finally, she thought of the way that Rarity had stared dumbstruck at her when she had compared Pinkie’s response of thanks with that of Spike’s; it was the same look that she gave Spike whenever he thanked her while he was helping her. She has to have felt something. That look…

“But…” continued the pink pony as she made up her mind over what to tell Twilight. It seemed to catch the other mare’s attention, causing Twilight to gaze once more at Pinkie hopefully. “I can tell you that she has a great respect for Spike…and that she does feel differently about him now, though I don’t know by how much.

“I know that you’re probably upset with her for not telling you the truth about the trip they’re taking, but I think that you should think that it means that Rarity is confessing something. She agreed to go with Spike, knowing that it would be dangerous. Would you rather her not go with him and for Spike to go alone?” That question seemed to catch Twilight off guard, making her think about it. At least he’s with somepony. “She wanted to go with him and Rarity knew that she would have to; somepony had to go with him.”

“But why didn’t he come to me about it?” Twilight replied, looking up at Pinkie with worry. “Why was it her?”

Pinkie shook her head, not having a good answer for her. “I don’t know…maybe he was afraid of what you’d say, but Rarity told me once about the lengths she went to during the Great Dragon Migration years ago. She didn’t even think twice about leaving to find Spike, and that doesn’t seem to have changed.” Twilight was silent again, seeming to contemplate what Pinkie had said. The pink pony hoped that she had made it through to her.

After a few moments of silence, the horn of the studious mare lit up and the door swung open. “Whatever I choose to believe is behind Rarity’s motives doesn’t matter. All that matters now is finding both Spike and Rarity before it’s too late.” Twilight walked out of her home in front of Pinkie and glanced back at her after. “…thank you, Pinkie. I know that promises are something that you never go against, so thank you for telling me what you can about Rarity. It means a lot.”

The party pony hopped forward, allowing her smile to spread across her face again as she heard her friend’s praise. “No problem, Twilight. Always happy to help a friend!”

Feeling elated at having fixed at least something that was troubling Twilight, Pinkie bounded along the rest of the way to the Cake’s sweet shop. It was cooler out today than it had been yesterday, she noted. Pinkie was thankful that there had been no wind planned for the day too. Winter is on its way. Oh, I hope that we don’t miss the preparations to welcome winter; the other ponies will think that we’re lazy.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” shouted the magenta-maned mare as she pushed the double doors open dramatically. The two older ponies jumped from their spots near the counter upon hearing her loud greeting.

Mrs. Cake was the first to regain her composure and she held up a hoof to her muzzle. “Shh, Pinkie. The twins are sleeping; you must be quiet.”

“Oops,” she giggled and covered her own muzzle. Twilight walked in beside her and smiled to the happy parents as the exchange went on. “Sorry, I just get so excited whenever I come here. There’s always so much fun to have here.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr. and Mrs. Cake,” Twilight spoke up, standing a few feet ahead of the pink pony. “but Pinkie and I and the rest of our friends need to leave quickly.”

That seemed to catch the two older ponies’ attention. Mrs. Cake stepped out from behind the counter and walked nearer to Pinkie and Twilight, followed quickly by her husband. “Oh, what’s wrong?”

“We think that Spike and Rarity are in trouble.”

The light blue mare held a hoof up to her muzzle, leaning into Mr. Cake when he draped a hoof over her back. “Oh dear. Have you spoken to Sweetie Belle about this?”

Twilight shook her head. “We haven’t really had a chance. I only just returned from hearing what Princess Celestia told me about the situation.”

“Go on up, Pinkie. This sounds serious,” Mr. Cake said, gesturing up the steps toward her room. She nodded and made her way up the staircase. Pinkie hadn’t thought about telling Sweetie Belle about what happened. She had seen the love that Rarity’s little sister had for Rarity back at the train station.

“What do you want us to tell Sweetie Belle about this?” Pinkie heard the yellow stallion ask from the first floor. “I would imagine that she would want to come along if she knew that her sister was in danger.”

“I would prefer that she not know about it, at least until we left…” Their voices faded into a whisper that Pinkie couldn’t identify as she trotted across the hall to her room. At this point she was too consumed in her thoughts to really focus on outside voices anyway. Poor Sweetie Belle. She’ll be crushed when she finds out. If she was that worried about Rarity leaving for a few weeks, what would she do about this?

She couldn’t place her attention on that right now though. Pinkie had to make sure that Rarity came back to her sister before something bad happened to her. As the pink mare sorted out her own supplies for the trip, a grin grew on her muzzle. Spike won’t let anything like that happen to her. Pinkie brightened with that thought and exclaimed when another one jumped into her mind. “Ooh, and we’ll need some balloons and streamers to celebrate when we find them.” With that thought entering her sporadic mind, Pinkie raced off to her party supplies and began shoving them into her saddlebags.

“So, um…Twilight?” asked Fluttershy as the five friends sat inside the train car. She had taken her spot on the left side of the train, while Twilight and Pinkie took their spots on the right side. The train had come rather quickly, though Twilight had told them that the princess would ensure that they were not harried on their important journey. “So when we arrive at Vanhoover, where do we go?”

“Princess Celestia has a ship waiting for us when we get there.” Once again, Twilight was rifling through that large tome that she had collected from the Golden Oaks Library. It was interesting to Pinkie to see what she was looking at.

“Whoa, really?” replied Rainbow Dash from beside Fluttershy. “She’s really using her power as princess this time.”

Applejack shuffled in her seat next to Pinkie, raising a hoof as she spoke. “It’s not like we could do anythin’ without her help this time. Up until this point we’ve had quests in Equestria. We’ve never needed ta leave the continent before. How long do ya think it’ll take to arrive on the western shore, Twilight?”

“It’s difficult to say. The ship will only take us as far as Starswirl Island. If Princess Celestia can’t arrange for us to ride on a transport ship to ibexian territory, we’ll have to work something out on our own.”

The speedster huffed and sunk back in her seat, crossing her forelegs angrily. “Well that’s great. We couldn’t make it to the Ibexian Tundra on our own and I doubt that we’d be able to carry you two there with us even more.”

“Calm down, Rainbow. It won’t come to that.” Twilight levitated her saddlebags over to her and opened them, unrolling a scroll that looked to Pinkie like the map of the west coast of Equestria. She sat behind the pony, leaning over the back board of her seat to glance over her shoulder. “Even if the princess can’t make a deal with the ibexes, there might be another way to gain passage to the western continent.”

“Ooh! What would that be?” asked Pinkie, becoming more excited by the prospect of a secret way to accomplish what they set out to do. Her sudden hopping managed to startle Applejack.

“Whoa there, pony girl. Settle down, or you’ll start to rock the whole train car.”

Pinkie giggled and waved a hoof at the farm mare. “Oh, come on, Applejack. That’s impossible. I couldn’t manage to rock the whole train car, although I kind of always wanted to try. Do you wanna help me, Fluttershy?”

From the other side of the car, the timid pegasus hid slightly behind her mane. “Um…no thank you, Pinkie. Oh, I…I’m sorry if I’m no fun, but I think trying that might just injure ponies.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” The pink pony sat back on her haunches, hanging her forelegs over the back board to glance over Twilight’s shoulder. Besides, I’m too hungry to concentrate on something like that.

“To answer your question, Pinkie,” the lavender alicorn replied, folding up what appeared to be a map of the world and all of its continents. “Starswirl Island is one of the major trade docks for Equestria. If Princess Celestia is unsuccessful with a transport straight to the Ibexian Tundra, we should be able to barter passage by some other ship.”

“Well, that’s good. I wonder what Starswirl Island looks like. A star or a swirl?” Pinkie giggled playfully when the others raised their eyebrows at her.

Rainbow Dash grumbled and slid off of her seat next to Fluttershy. “I’m bored. I’m gonna go eat something. I suppose when we reach Vanhoover we’re not going to have an opportunity to have a meal in Equestria for a while.”

“Ooh, ooh!” cried Pinkie as her cerulean eyes widened with enthusiasm. “Yeah, I’m getting mighty hungry thinking of all the stuff we can do when we get to where we’re going. So many things to see and ponies to meet, I’ll need to make sure I have enough energy to keep going.”

“Trust me, Pinkie,” laughed Applejack from beside her. “Ah think ya’ll have enough energy to keep goin’ for a very long time.”

The little pony beamed at her and bounced out of her seat and into the isle. “Thanks, Applejack. Are you coming too?” She waited to hear Applejack’s response, but the starved look in the orange mare’s eyes was answer enough.

“Well shoot, ah might as well. Might build up quite the appetite when ah get there and see what they’ve got in the way of food.”

Pinkie giggled and glanced at Fluttershy and Twilight as Applejack went ahead to the other room with the cerulean pegasus. “Are you guys coming too? Come on, we don’t have all day.”

“I’m not hungry, girls,” Twilight responded, not looking up from the book held in her magic. “I need to make sure that we have everything that we need to make this work. I’ll eat something later.”

Fluttershy herself sat up from her position inside the train car and waved a hoof. She held a light smile on her face as Pinkie began to bounce again. “Oh, and I had a big lunch before we left for Twilight’s house. I should be fine for a few hours.”

“Suit yourself. Come on, guys. Let’s get some food.”

“Right behind you, Rainbow!”

When the three ponies entered the nearest dining car, Pinkie saw that the tables were empty. It was odd to her that a public train would have no passengers other than the five of them and the train staff onboard; however, Pinkie recalled that Twilight had mentioned the princess sending the car on ahead to cut down on their waiting time. I hope that no ponies were inconvenienced by her doing that. I wonder why she did that at all actually.

“So ya’ll, what do ya think you’ll git?” Applejack asked, sauntering up to the food bar to await a staff member.

“What won’t I be getting? I’m starved!” yelled Rainbow Dash, pounding on the counter for somepony to take her order.

“I don’t know,” Pinkie said, humming to herself as she scanned the list of meals. “That’s really difficult to say. I kind of like Rainbow’s idea. That way I can have one of everything and choose what I should have for next time. I should have enough bits.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “You, Pinkie, I can believe would actually eat all of that, but Rainbow Dash, not so much.”

The cerulean mare froze, her hoof raised in the air to slam down on the counter. One of the staff ponies came over to the other side of the counter, but he stopped too, probably seeing the look on her face. Pinkie couldn’t see her friend’s expression, standing behind her, but she had known her long enough to know what she probably looked like right now. Uh oh…this isn’t good.

“Is that a challenge?” Rainbow Dash whispered, turning her head to glare at the farm pony.

“No,” the orange mare quickly answered. Pinkie sighed, happy that Applejack wasn’t egging her on. “It’d be a challenge if I wasn’t sure that you wouldn’t be able to eat everything on the menu.” Then again, Pinkie thought, slapping her hoof to her face and dragging her hoof back to the ground. Then again again, it would be kinda interesting to watch.

The speedy mare smirked back at Applejack and extended her wings. “You’re on.”

Giving up on preventing such a competition as this, Pinkie smiled at the two of her friends. “I think we’ll have three of everything,” she said to the pony at the counter. Once he left, a little disturbed at the pink mare’s order, Pinkie turned back to the two ponies readying themselves for yet another contest. “I call score keeper!”

By the time the competition was over, the tables were littered with dirty dishes and uneaten sweets. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were holding their stomachs, barely able to sit up. They placed a hoof on the table nearest them to stabilize themselves. “So…Pinkie…” the cerulean mare asked, struggling to keep her stomach from growling. “Who’s the winner?”

Pinkie sat on a chair before the two of them, her plates cleaned of food except for one. She stuffed another cupcake into her mouth as she thought about the scores. She began to count them off on her hooves and do some math in the air. “Let’s see…carry the pie, add the three cookies, split the cupcakes…”

Applejack turned to the rainbow speedster and gestured toward Pinkie. “What is she talkin’ about?” Rainbow shook her head and waved a dismissive hoof in her direction, before placing it on her stomach again.

“Just…just let her count them up. You and I both know that we wouldn’t get it if she tried to explain.”

Pinkie bounced up in victory, smiling at her two friends. “Aha! I have it.” In return, Rainbow and Applejack grinned at each other smugly. The rainbow-maned pegasus was the first to turn back to face Pinkie.

“Great. What’s it say?”

“Who won?” Applejack asked, shuffling closer to the party pony’s table.

“The winner is…nopony!” Pinkie threw her hooves in the air and giggled at the expressions on her friend’s faces. In response, both of their eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“What!?”

Shoving another cupcake into her mouth, the magenta-maned mare nodded her head. She shifted in her seat and went for another sweet. “Yeah. You’re tied, once again…for most extreme dessert eating pony!”

“Ugh!” Applejack cried in annoyance and discomfort. She fell backward onto her back, holding her stomach and laying on her side. “I’m so full…I’ve got cramps everywhere.”

“I have more cramps than you,” Rainbow grumbled beside her, having joined her on the floor shortly after. Pinkie had to fight off the urge to giggle at the ponies in front of her, overwhelmed by the contest.

“Put a sock in it, Rainbow.”

“Well, I was still impressed with you guys,” reassured Pinkie, pushing herself up and coming to sit in between the two full ponies. “You sure can eat a lot.”

Applejack sat back up and chuckled at the pink pony before her. “Not as much as you, Pinkie. Ah think we can both agree on who really won this competition.” Pinkie tilted her head in confusion and turned to Rainbow as she struggled to pull herself up as well.

“Yeah. I gotta be fair, Pinkie. Since I’m a Wonderbolt, you beat us.”

“Huh? What do you mean? I’m just the referee.”

Her friends chuckled at her. Applejack smiled at her and repositioned her Stetson on her head. “Yeah, and ya’ll were eatin’ more than us throughout that entire time while you recorded what we ate.”

Pinkie shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her last cookie in her hoof. “But I wasn’t recording what I ate.”

“Well, yer still eating, and y’all aren’t showing any signs of cramps for it.”

“That’s true. I have been practicing eating for a long time.” She giggled and bit into the cookie, eliciting laughter from the two ponies. Rainbow Dash stood up on her hooves and took a few steps to the side.

“Well, at least you stood up to your claim. You ate more than both of us combined.”

“Ah shucks, you guys. You’re gonna make me blush.”

“I believe she’s eaten more,” one of them staff members said, holding up an empty cupcake tray. “She’s eaten every last dessert we have.”

The pony’s turned to one another and giggled nervously. Pinkie looked toward the stallion and raised her hooves up to shrug at him. “Oops.”

Upon disembarking from the train, Pinkie’s eyes widened with wonder. “Wow!”

Vanhoover was breathtaking. Pinkie had never visited any cities south of Ponyville, and the fact that this city was just on the tip of the continent near the ocean only made it more beautiful. She had seen cities that were built on the shore before, such as Manehattan to the north, but there were several tall buildings in the way of the water and tons of dockyards with trade ships that ruined the atmosphere.

Here the beaches and the sand castles that ponies made could be seen and the waves washing upon the shore could be heard without too much city noise present to drown it out. Of course that wasn’t the case everywhere, but for the party mare it was enough to make her smile. Maybe we could come here sometime for a vacation. Well, after we find Rarity and Spike of course.

The five ponies kept on walking through the large city, discussing other tactics for reaching the western continent if Celestia was unable to contact the ibex. Twilight was relatively silent however, Pinkie noticed. Her smile dropped some, concern for her friend showing itself on her features. She’s probably too worried about Spike to hear any of us. Twilight is probably going through every possible way to get to him right now.

She could surely understand the alicorn’s dilemma. The pink pony would do anything to rescue Gummy if he was in trouble. Pinkie thought that she had the same sort of bond with her toothless alligator that Twilight had with Spike; knowing that just made her want to help the lavender pony more.

“Is this where Princess Celestia told us to meet?” Fluttershy asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had gathered around the mares briefly. They all stopped and looked to the dockyard to their left. Ponies walked along the harbour, seen to be carrying bags or boxes or possible shipments; either just having come back from a trip across the sea or about to embark on one. There were numerous ships tied up at the pier, most having names such as The Sea Mare, or The Water Prancer, The Shore Skimmer or The Ocean Emerald.

Applejack nodded her head and began to walk ahead to Twilight. “Yeah, ah think so, Fluttershy. Twilight, have y’all had any messages from the princess yet…about when we get to Starswirl Island?” Pinkie turned from staring at a rather large vessel called The Trident Galloper to listen for her friend’s response. Twilight walked forward a few more steps, passing two sailor ponies with bags slung over their backs, before glancing back at them.

She shook her head and gazed off at the water. “No. Not yet. I don’t know what’s taking so long, though. It’s already been a day since we left Ponyville and we need to know if it’s necessary to look to other transport methods than a trade ship. I hope she’s successful.” Twilight tilted her head to stare at them, her stress from the situation etched onto her face. “This would be the fastest way to get there.”

Pinkie watched Rainbow take off into the air and land on Twilight’s left side, putting a hoof around her in an attempt to cheer her up. “Ah, I’m sure she’ll have the boat waiting for us when we get there. No sweat.”

“Rainbow Dash is right,” the farm mare nodded, turning to stare at Pinkie and Fluttershy who still stood back. “We just need to find that boat that Princess Celestia told you about, uh…The Sea Princess, right? We just find it and sail on over to the border.”

The group began to move again, Pinkie noticing Fluttershy take to the air to speak with the others as well. “Hopefully we can catch up to Rarity and Spike, taking this route.”

“And I haven’t ever known the princess to break her word,” Pinkie put in, grinning madly and bouncing up to match Twilight’s stride. “I’m sure that her message will arrive shortly. Then we can have a super long voyage across the ocean and get attacked by pirates or sea creatures…or something.” She placed a hoof over the studious pony’s back, trying to prevent whatever concern she was feeling for the unicorn and dragon from becoming too overwhelming.

Twilight smiled back at her friends and picked up the pace a little as they searched the dockyard for the boat that they were told to find. “You’re right, you guys,” she replied, walking down the platform to the end of the first row of boats. The wooden walkway was not so broad over this way, so Pinkie and Fluttershy needed to form a second line behind Applejack and Twilight. Rainbow simply flew at the front of the ponies as they searched.

Princess Celestia had mentioned The Sea Princess to the lavender alicorn in a letter sent while they were on the train to Vanhoover. When Pinkie had returned from the eating competition to see what Fluttershy and Twilight were up to, she had told them that this vessel would be what carried them to the border.

It was here at the end of the dockyard that the five ponies found what they were looking for. For a vessel simply meant to carry them to Starswirl Island, Pinkie thought that it was rather large; a gorgeous looking ship no doubt, but the magenta-maned pony was no judge of ships. I’ve rarely ever seen any, but I’m sure that Rarity would be impressed with this one.

To Pinkie it appeared to be a luxury cruise ship, going to some faraway tropical island, like those pictures that the white unicorn showed her every so often. She knew it would be the kind of boat that Rarity would love to be on. The Sea Princess had a pristine white finish, with a thin line of blue and pink painted horizontally around the entirety of the vessel. The name of the boat was painted above that line in black letters on the right side.

Ponies worked and walked about on and around it, packing up their equipment and supplies for the trip around the continent. Pinkie raised an eyebrow, watching some of them hoist the gear up or down. At least I think that’s what they’re doing. One of the stallions caught their eyes and smiled down at them from the deck of the ship.

“Princess Twilight,” he greeted, bowing out of respect for the alicorn. He was a smaller stallion, not nearly as big as Applejack’s brother Big Macintosh; however, he was still broad of shoulder. He wore a blue tricorn hat and a blue coat, overtop a white sailor’s uniform. The pony had a sturdy face, though it was short and broad, and he seemed to have a few scars on his chin and cheek. As he bowed, Pinkie saw that Twilight still looked uncomfortable at the gesture, but the stallion quickly stood up again. “’Tis a pleasure to meet you at last. We’re just about to shove off for Starswirl Island, if you’re ready. We can’t leave without the most important package to deliver now, can we?” He laughed and looked to Pinkie and the others as well. “You and your friends are welcome upon my ship.”

Twilight nodded her gratitude for this pony’s assistance and stepped forward. “Thank you, captain. I’m sorry that we had to be troubling you today.” The five friends made their way up the plank, greeting the stallion and gazing about at the deck of the boat.

Wow, super spacious, thought Pinkie Pie, grinning from ear to ear. And it’s all ours to explore. This is just like a luxury cruise! Oh wait ‘til I tell Rarity about this, she’ll be so jealous. She giggled into her hoof and kept the bounce in her step as she waited for the ship to depart. Pinkie watched the pony wave a hoof in dismissal at Twilight’s apology.

“No trouble, princess. I’m always up for a little something different from the usual ol’ boring trips. This old girl’s been bored out of her mind,” he said, tapping a hoof along the boat’s edge. “Just taking tourists around the coasts, doing some little shipments here and there; I’m not too keen on getting back to that either, once this is finished. When Princess Celestia contacted me about this little quest you were on, my crew and I jumped at the opportunity. A bit of change goes a long way.”

“So did the princess tell y’all about what the quest is about?” Applejack questioned, shifting the saddlebag on her back into a more comfortable position.

“She told me what she needed to in her letters, to get me to agree,” he smiled at the group and waved a hoof in the air as he seemed to recall. “Something about a rescue mission on the western continent. Your friends, I assumed. Other than that she didn’t say, and I wasn’t about to pry into something that’s none of my business.”

Twilight stepped forward, ahead of the others, and shook the pony’s hoof. “Well, we’re all really glad and thankful that you could make the trip, captain…”

Realization seemed to flash in his eyes as he placed his free hoof beside his head. “Oh! Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. My name’s Vem Seafarer, or Vem the Pirate as some may refer. Don’t let the name fool you though. I ain’t a pirate no more and neither are my crew, though pirates are still around. You’d best be careful aboard this boat; might be some of my old crew mates come back for me.”

He chuckled and began to walk over to the door, which appeared to lead to the lower decks of the vessel. Pinkie was bouncing from his upbeat attitude, already telling that this would be a great journey. She followed along with her friends as Vem led them along. “Were you really a pirate?”

“’Course I was,” he grinned back at her, pausing in his stride to allow a few crewmen to trot up to the deck. “The entire crew and this ship were once part of a pirate crew, though we’ve turned it around now. I don’t have any doubts about tellin’ ya five that either.”

“Well, if Princess Celestia trusts you to take us to where we need to go…I’m sure that we can trust you too.” Fluttershy smiled timidly at the former pirate, shifting her wings around, probably to account for the changing winds.

The captain of The Sea Princess grinned back at her and stood up straight. “Exactly. I like her; she’s got a good head on her shoulders. Might I inquire as to what your name is?”

“I’m Fluttershy,” she responded. As Pinkie watched the exchange, something clicked in her mind.

“Oh my gosh!” she shouted, startling the ponies around her as she bounded up to Fluttershy’s side. “We totally didn’t give you our names. You know Twilight, but not any of us. I’m Pinkie Pie and this is Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you, Mr. Former Pirate Vem.”

He grinned at each of them as their names were listed off, tilting his tricorn hat in their direction. “It’s good to meet all of you. And…Former Pirate Vem, huh? That’s a new one. Anyway, you gals must be starved for some lunch.” Vem continued on his way down the steps to the lower decks, followed by the five mares.

“Well, we did only have a small breakfast before we left the train,” Rainbow said from behind Pinkie. The pink pony heard Applejack scoff in front of her and look back over her shoulder to chuckle.

“Yeah, after we had that huge competition ah’m sure yer mighty hungry.” With a smile on her face, the orange mare turned back to watch where she was going after a few seconds. “That’s mighty kind of ya, Vem. Will we be able to meet some of the crew too?”

“Oh, I’m sure you will eventually. They’ll be around, but I’ll introduce you to some of them as they come along.” The stallion reached the end of the stairs and led them over to what Pinkie assumed was the meal area. It was just as luxurious and large as the deck was.

There were tables and chairs placed along the sides of the lower decks, with yet another food table set up in the center of the room. Triangular in shape and set up with all sorts of snacks like hay fries, with a single pony that most likely made out orders or grabbed the snacks for passengers. They were alone on this boat though, so he seemed a little bored. Pinkie on the other hoof, only grinned wider.

She licked her lips excitedly, seeing all of the food ready to be eaten. So many snacks…all meant for just us. No lines or waiting times. Yummy!

“Hey True Blue,” Vem called as he set a hoof on the side of the table, breaking Pinkie from her salivating over the food. “Set these five mares up with some of your best dishes. We gotta get a move on.”

The pony at the counter didn’t seem quite as strong as Vem, though he still seemed like he could hold his own against a stronger opponent. His mane was an indigo colour, cut short and kept neat against his head; he wore a white sailor outfit over his lighter cerulean coat and his eyes were a deep green. His form was slim, though not too skinny to seem unhealthy; True Blue’s eyes were kind and his face was fair.

The pony nodded his head in response and began work on their meals. “Sure thing, Captain Vem. It’s nice to meet you ponies.” He caught the sight of Twilight and quickly lowered his head. “My apologies, princess. It is an honour to meet you aboard the ship.”

“Please don’t,” she called out, causing the pony to glance back up at her in confusion. “It’s alright, really. You don’t need to bow or anything.”

Vem chuckled from the counter beside True Blue. “Really, a princess who doesn’t like ponies bowing to her? Interesting. True Blue, I think this is going to be a grand adventure; shan’t keep it waiting for us now. You ponies enjoy your meal, while I get this old girl running again.” He began to walk back over to the upper decks, waving back to the six ponies present.

“Thanks, captain.” Rainbow saluted stiffly, flapping her wings to stay airborne. The captain turned back around and stared up at the cerulean pegasus for a moment.

“Careful there,” he spoke, lifting a hoof in her direction. “You’ll poke your own eye out.” He smiled at them and left, leaving Pinkie to giggle at the surprised look on the cerulean pegasi’s face.

The blue coated stallion quickly served up the meals for each of them, all a bit different from the last one as well. Pinkie’s was scrumptious, some sort of pasta, but her mind was elsewhere. She was still concerned about how Twilight was taking the situation with Rarity and Spike and the lavender pony wasn’t talking very much. The pink mare could tell that Fluttershy and Applejack noticed her subdued attitude as well.

I hope that she’s not being too hard on Rarity for not telling her what Spike was really doing. She looked through one of the windows of the meal area and saw the different kinds of fish swimming about below the waves as the boat continued on toward its destination. Rainbow and Applejack were conversing to one another as they ate, though Pinkie didn’t pick up what it was that they were talking about.

She returned to her food, but suddenly she wasn’t so hungry. Pinkie took the fork in her hoof, filled with the delectable food. Where ever they are, I just hope that those two are alright.

Author's Notes:

Hello everyone,

It has been a while, hasn’t it? I apologize for that to those who have read up to chapter sixteen. I was distracted from this story briefly by other works that I have thought of, but now with the Christmas season around I have nothing about school preventing me from continuing this story.

I’m working on chapter eighteen as well, so hopefully by next week I will have something more to post. This is a fairly long chapter I know, but this side of the story needs to catch up with Rarity and Spike, since the time difference is only a few hours.

Thank you all for reading and have a merry Christmas!
Ta ta!