Grinning, Tarnished Teapot gave a friendly nod to the massive orangutang looming just behind the very out of place caribou—a caribou that looked as though he had been shorn not long ago. Tarnish stepped forward so that he and the caribou could bump hooves, causing the ginormous orangutang to let out a long, low groan of concern.

“Lichen, how ya been?” Tarnish asked

“Trying not to die in this heat,” the caribou replied. “It’s miserable, but there is money to be made here.”

“Mister Teapot, I don’t know about this—”

“Lichen, we’ve hit a hard spot, my companions and I. We need some coke, enough to get home.”

“Done.”

“We had to give away much of our food to some villagers to keep them from starving.”

“Done.”

“Fantastic. Thanks, Lichen, you’re the best.”

Stepping forward, Daring Do looked dubious and she turned a wary eye to the orangutang, who didn’t seem to like her. “Clearly there is something that happened that I’m not aware of. In my experience, I try not to deal with pirates. Mind explaining yourself, Mister Teapot?”

Just as Tarnish was about to reply, Lichen spoke instead. “Tarnish rescued me from slavers some time ago. We’re pirates now, but not for much longer. I’ve been in contact with Princess Luna of Equestria, and she is considering giving us a Privateer’s Writ. Princess Celestia wants to get involved in the affairs here in Windia, but she fears that direct interference would sour relations with the Grittish Isles.”

Lips pressing together, Daring Do let out a low groan of disapproval.

“Who’s the ape?” Tarnish asked.

“My bodyguard, Maldrago.” Lichen smiled and looked at the big orange orangatang. “I wish you’d relax, I told you that Tarnish is a good sort.” Returning his attention to Tarnish, Lichen smiled as he explained, “I won Maldrago in a card game, taking him from his previous owner. I tried to set him free, but this happened.”

Tilting his head to one side, Tarnish doffed his pith helmet to Maldrago, and then said to Lichen, “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver. I have got to get home and see my wife, my little filly, my family, and my friends.” After some thinking, Tarnish added, “Hey, I have guns that I took from some Thuggees. You interested?”

Looking quite surprised, Lichen nodded and Maldrago began to chuckle, a terrifying sound that resonated within his massive chest. Daring Do, who did not approve, let out a snort and another long groan as she stood there, shaking her head. Saying nothing, she retreated in a huff to let Tarnish handle this awful business.

“The guns are yours.” Tarnish had a broad smile on his face. “Thanks for saving my hide.”

“You saved mine first,” Lichen replied as he scratched at his side with his hind hoof. “Tarnish, you look like dung, friend. What happened?”

“Where do I even start?” Tarnish’s eyes widened beneath the brim of his pith helmet and his nostrils flared. “I had to battle a Thuggee army to save a group of villagers, some bad stuff happened, more bad stuff happened, I got captured on purpose to serve as a distraction, I got tortured and this cultist priest fellow he was real keen on sacrificing me to Collie Ma. More bad stuff happened, there were cobras, so many cobras, there was a huge fight, I got shot in the ass, there was another huge fight, I got mauled by a big jungle cat, the villagers that we saved came to our rescue, I flung cobras at guys I didn’t much care for, my saddlebags were full of them, and we got away—”

Tarnish inhaled with a wheeze, then continued, “Then we were relaxing in a bar, thinking it was over, but no, there was a big fight, and somepony I just can’t stand, he took it real equinal that I threw him to a bunch of crocodiles, and then he and I met up once more a few days later and I shot him in the ass because I’m a prick like that.”

Eyes bulging, Lichen burst out laughing, so did Maldrago, and then Tarnish joined them as well. Nearby, Daring Do was not laughing, but she kept silent. Tarnish had earned his moment of frivolity and even though she would never, ever, under any circumstances say it out loud, she was proud of him for how he had handled himself on this trip. Daring Do kept a stiff upper lip, as Tarnish was coming along nicely and she was certain that he would mature in time.

For now, she just had to be patient with his youthful shenanigans and hope for the best.

On the deck of the Endeavour, Rainbow Dash paced from front to back. She was feeling a little unsettled, but she hadn’t said anything to anypony. This was a beautiful place, a place full of history, and it was an awful place. Colonialism had stripped it bare, leaving those who lived here desperate and destitute.

It was always a problem, coming to places like these, because it made her realise just how good she had it in Equestria. Here, she had to be careful as there were places here where mares weren’t even allowed to speak, as they were seen as property, or possessions. A great many ponies had asked Tarnished how much the rainbow maned mare was, was she for sale, and quite a few of them were quite insulted or put off when Tarnish refused to make a deal.

The situation made Rainbow Dash do a bit of hoof-gazing, something she wasn’t prone to doing. She had grown up free, happy, her own pony, able to do what she liked. Had she been born here, on the other side of the world… she shuddered, not liking the thought. And the caste system here, try as she might, Rainbow Dash couldn’t understand that at all. That was a messed up way to run a herd, no doubt.

“Miss Dash?”

Lifting her head, Rainbow looked at Daring Do, who was holding a teacup and a saucer with her wings. Fresh bandages covered her many wounds and Rainbow felt bad because she didn’t know enough about first aid. Rainbow tried to make a reply, but no words came out, none at all, all she could do was sigh.

“You look troubled,” Daring Do said in a soft, kind voice.

Rainbow nodded.

“Lichen’s army of apes has a surprising number of skilled surgeons and doctors among them. I’m troubled too, Miss Dash… in my prejudice, I thought they were dumb apes… jungle savages. I was proven wrong.” Puckering her lips, Daring Do took a sip of hot tea, slurping it to cool it off.

Another unsettled sigh escaped Rainbow.

“They’re patching up Tarnish right now, doing far, far more than I could.” Daring Do took a few steps forwards, her hooves clicking against the wooden deck. “Tarnish is remarkably good at patching himself up though, and others. Here, in this place, he could pass himself off as a doctor, no doubt.”

Turning her head, Rainbow looked out over the bright lights of the pirate port. This was not the place she expected, she had expected a rough and tumble pirate town, full of rum, slatterns, and trouble. But this place, it might have been Equestria. The streets were quite clean and well maintained. The buildings were kept in good order. There was no public drunkenness, as doing so would get you flogged for the first offense. The second offense? Thinking about it made Rainbow shudder in revulsion.

There were wooden signs everywhere warning the residents to mind the rules.

Refugees came here to this place, trying to escape the horrors of Windia, and Lichen was doing his best to ship them off to Equestria. Quite a few earth ponies roamed the streets, as they had endured some of the worst of the suffering, a suffering that Rainbow had trouble comprehending.

But this place wasn’t perfect, not at all. Lichen kept the fragile sense of civilisation here through the worst means possible—lashing, branding, and beheading. Try as she might, Rainbow couldn’t make sense of this place; she wanted to go home, to be with Twilight and her friends in a place that was both comforting and familiar.

Here in the pirate port, there was no caste system, and those who tried to enforce it on others met awful fates. Rainbow had seen the aftermath of the consequences with her own eyes, and it had left a strange feeling of hollowness down deep in her guts. She had borne witness to things that would haunt her for the rest of her days, no doubt.

“Daring, I don’t like this place and I want to go home,” Rainbow said, giving voice to her feelings.

“We have the means to go home, thanks to Tarnish,” Daring Do replied, and then she puckered up to slurp more tea.

“I didn’t think there was a place in the world as bad as this,” Rainbow admitted, sounding ashamed and without realising she was doing it, she tucked her tail between her legs. “I honestly thought the rest of the world would be like Equestria, more or less, maybe a bit less perfect. I thought the world was civilised and good. And it hurts a whole lot that I’m wrong. How do I make this better? It really hurts me inside and I don’t know what to do.”

“Well,” Daring Do began, “most ponies would just go home and do their level best to forget all about it. They would bury themselves in all of the luxuries, comforts, and conveniences of the modern, civilised world. They would ply their loved ones for tea and sympathy. In time, their consciences would smooth out and all of this would become an unpleasant, distant memory.”

“But I don’t want that to happen!” Rainbow whined as the strange pain flared up inside, hurting worse than ever.

“My dear, then what you must do is make yourself remember.”

Author's Notes:

Come, let us be crazy together.

Join me, as we explore, Skyreach.