Spring of the 227th Year, Equestrian Reckoning

Reign of Prince High Mountain

Spellweaver stirred in her bed as the morning sun peeked through her window.

Twilight Sparkle stirred in her bed as the morning sun peeked through her window.

Emerging from her bed, she walked sleepily to the mirror, where an imperial-blue unicorn looked back. Her navy mane was a complete mess. Levitating a hairbrush, she tamed her unruly hair back into its normal straight style, a pinkish-red stripe becoming visible, the same colour as the magic field around her brush.

Emerging from her bed, she walked sleepily to the mirror, where a...

Wait. This isn't me. But I feel like I know this pony as well as I know myself. Luna said that artifact would show us the past... Am I seeing the past?

Just sit back and watch.

Who's there?

The magic within the orb. This is indeed the past. Just sit back and watch.

As Spellweaver finished her morning routine, she glanced out the window towards the rising sun. The Solar Council had done a good job this morning, and the weather team had cleared the skies. A beautiful morning.

Several open books lay on her desk, along with her own papers in various states of completion: maps, ranging from local to continental, real and imagined; sketches of flags and fantastical creatures; the beginnings of reports and stories. But today, she felt no urge to work on any of them. Today, she decided, she would take a walk around the city.

Sonneport was Equestria's second largest city (after the inventively named Capital City), home to a port with berths for hundreds of ships, and to a huge bazaar supported by the wealth of foreign trade which poured through. Spellweaver avoided the latter on her way to her destination. Eventually, she found herself standing atop the massive wall that overlooked the docks. Below her, ships of every conceivable design and sailors of every conceivable race mixed freely. She leaned forward to feel the sea breeze, and smelled salt and fish and foreign spices, and heard talk in a dozen languages.

"Pretty awesome, huh?"

This rough voice so close to her caused her to jump in fright - luckily, the crenellations in front of her prevented a drop to the docks below.

"Whoops, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." Spellweaver looked back to see a young pegasus mare standing behind her. "I saw you standing up here alone and I thought, 'There's a smart-looking filly. Maybe she's what I'm looking for.'"

"W-what you're looking for?" replied the unicorn, now wary.

"Oh, right. I guess I should explain. My name is Flash Flood, fastest flier on the high seas. I'm a lookout on one of those ships, and we're looking for a new navigator. I saw you leave the library this morning, and when you took an interest in the ships, well..."

"Oh my gosh, I'd love to. But... I don't know if I'm qualified. I mean, I've never even been on a boat before."

"That's not much of a problem. The captain is super awesome, she'll help you get your sea legs in ten seconds flat. Look, no pressure. You don't have to join. But if you do decide to... See that ship there?" Flash Flood pointed to a caravel sitting in a nearby berth. "Come aboard, and say I sent you."

With a whoosh, the turquoise pegasus leaped from the battlements. Spellweaver lost sight of the speedy flyer almost immediately.

The unicorn's eyes locked on to a part of the docks where little traffic seemed to be passing. Concentrating hard for a moment, she was engulfed by a flash of light, which reappeared on the path below and brought her with it. Shaking off the momentary disorientation that always came with teleporting, she scanned for the ship that Flash Flood had pointed out. Spotting her quarry, she started off down the docks.

***

As Spellweaver drew nearer to the caravel, she was able to spot the name painted on the side: Amity. At the same time, she noticed three colts touching up the paint on an alicorn figurehead; or rather, one colt painting while suspended from ropes held by two others.

"Excuse me!" she called to them. "Is Flash Flood on this ship?"

One of the colts holding the ropes, a pegasus, whipped around to face her.

"Ooh! Did big sis tell you to come here? Isn't she so cool?"

Unfortunately, to talk to her he had spit out his rope, and this caused the suspended pony to flip upside down and lose hold of his paintbrush. Fortunately, Spellweaver was nearby to catch the brush and support the earth pony foal.

"Thanks miss!" said the dangling colt. "Sparks just gets really excited when anypony mentions his sister. She went in to talk to the captain, I think."

Spellweaver levitated the rope back up to 'Sparks' and the brush back to the earth pony, who resumed his work as he was pulled upright again. Walking up the gangplank and onto the deck, she noticed that those three were the only crew she could see. The blue unicorn walked up to the cabin and knocked on the door. After a moment it opened, revealing the face of the pegasus from earlier. Spellweaver noticed her silvery mane shimmer different colours in the light, like spray in the sunlight.

"Hey, captain, it's that unicorn I met earlier."

"Well, what are ye waitin' fer? Invite her in!" came a voice from inside.

Flash Flood gestured inside the cabin and Spellweaver entered, taking a moment to let her eyes adjust to the relative darkness. When she had regained her vision, she looked up to see a sturdy earth pony mare wearing a huge hat with a bright red feather.

"Hahaharr, good mornin' to ye, lass. Cap'n Full Press, at yer service. And ye are?"

"I'm Spellweaver. Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Please, I'm no 'ma'am'. Call me Full Press, or just cap'n, if'n ye prefer. I hear from me friend Flash Flood that ye're lookin' to fill our navigator's horseshoes, so tell me: what exactly is it that ye do, when ye're not lookin' down at the harbour?"

"Help my parents at the Grand Library, mostly. I love to read and learn, so I figure it's nice to help other ponies do the same. But I'm sure I've read every book in that library, and how better to learn than to go out and experience things?"

Full Press looked at her lookout.

"Yarr, I like this pony's attitude. Ye always did have a good eye fer these things." She turned back to Spellweaver. "Read all the books in the Grand Library, did ye? I reckon that would take a hundred years. How's yer affinity with maps?"

"Oh, I love them! Sometimes I even like to draw maps when I'm bored."

"I love it! Why, I'd say ye're already part of the crew." She cracked a grin. "An' since I'm the cap'n, that means ye are! Welcome aboard, lass. Come out on deck with me."

They left the cabin, all three ponies taking a moment to readjust to the bright sunlight. The captain glanced around, then beckoned to the three colts, who had gathered on the foredeck and begun some heated discussion. At the captain's gesture they broke off their discussion and stood before her.

"Ye lads, go check below. Round up any crew still aboard and tell 'em to gather up here."

"Aye aye captain!" they replied in concert, before racing off belowdeck. After a couple of minutes of smalltalk, the three standing on deck were interrupted by the arrival of the cabin colts and some additional crew members.

"Mornin', mateys. I called this little meetin' to introduce ye to our newest crew member. Miss Spellweaver here is goin' to be fillin' the position o' navigator and chartmare. Spellweaver, allow me to introduce some o' the crew. This here's me first mate, Shinin' Sea." Full Press indicated a unicorn mare, white with just a faint hint of blue, mane styled elegantly.

"Pleased to meet you, darling," she said.

"Medic and second mate, Gentle Breeze." A pale pink pegasus with a blonde mane and big frightened eyes responded with a frightened squeak.

"Ship's cook, Golden Crust." The cook was a golden earth pony with an out-of-control mane.

"Ooh, it's so nice meeting new ponies! I should make something special for you! You can call me Goldie by the way," she giggled.

"This here zebra is Kizito."

"Yah mon." The zebra towered head and shoulders over Spellweaver, his mane hanging in dreadlocks. He had a serene expression on his face.

"And ye've already met our cabin colts. Flood's brother is Flyin' Sparks, the earth pony is Haralson Apple and the unicorn is Thunderclap. That's everyone we've got aboard right now, since most o' me crew is on shore leave."

"Nice to meet all of you. Captain, when should I move my stuff aboard?"

"Hahaharr, aren't ye eager? Don't worry about it, we don't put out again fer another three days. In the meantime, ye should probably explain the situation to yer parents - spend a day with them afore ye leave. A pony can get mighty homesick at sea."

***

Twilight Sparkle shook her head as she withdrew her hooves from the orb. The way her forelegs felt, she had been holding them there for hours. Around her, her friends did the same.

"That was an... Interesting experience," said Rarity.

"It was like I was that pony... But I wasn't. You know?" added Rainbow.

Twilight checked her clock: an hour had passed since they opened the package.

"Well, girls. Looks like we still have time. Again?"