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Misery
You insist that the weight of the world
Should be on my shoulders.
Misery
There’s much more to life than what you see
My friend of misery.

The first thing I remember about my time aboard the Red Talon, was the taste of the salt water on my tongue.

I awoke face down on the wooden deck, and I could feel the subtle bob and bounce of the water under the ship. I opened my eyes and watched the thin film of seawater wash over the knots and fibers, droplets fell from the bangs of my mane. There was a cool breeze, the sound of gulls, and the creaking of the hull told me that we were sailing and not docked.

“Look what we found skulkin’ around the island!” I heard one of them say. The shuffle of hooves sounded around me, and the sun was blotted out as they converged. A few chuckled, a few poked at me. I was too weak from malnutrition, and I was still too groggy from the blow to my head to make any pretense of defending myself from that gaggle of pirates, so I decided not to give them any reason to skewer me.

I made slow progress getting to stand, careful not to make any sudden moves, not that I could have been mustered any more than a feeble swing in my sorry state. Like earlier on the beach my strength deserted me, and I slumped back down on the deck with a thump, eliciting a chorus of hearty laughter from the crew.

“Look at ‘em! Washed out like a dish rag!”

“He’s a big fella isn’t he?

“I think he’ll make a good galley maid!”

“You think cap’m will let us hoist ‘im up like a piñata?”

The last suggestion apparently was a riot, earning another round of cheers. Lifting my head, I looked around at my captors, a motley collection of ponies from near and distant lands. Unicorns, Cloudies, Tillers, all of them hardened by lives of seafaring and plundering. I saw the two from the beach staring down at me smirking, the Pegasus taking another swig from the bottle.

“Had a devil of a time getting’ you aboard mate!” The Earth pony said to me, his speech slurred from the drink. His voice was gruff, the kind that meant he spent a lot of time yelling, which meant he was somepony of position. “Almost lost you overboard a few times in the dinghy.”

“Why did you take me?” I asked. “What do you want with me?”

“It’s our general practice not to maroon castaways, considered wasting resources. Per the Captain’s directive of course.”

Lucky me, I thought.

“As for what’s to be done with ya’, well that prerogative belongs to the captain of this ‘ere vessel.”

My temporary sobriety faltered, and a fainting spell threatened to overtake me. Whatever sustenance I got on the island hadn’t gone very far, I needed water and something to eat.

“Your captain…” I managed to focus my mind enough to say, “Can he get me-”

“Uh!” He cut me off, everyponies attention shifting away from me. “Whatever you were gonna ask, you can ask ‘im yerself.”

From above us I could hear the flapping of wings, and a shadow passed over the deck, the speed of it and my dizziness prevented me from discerning much detail.

“Attention on deck lads! Captain’s returned!”

The crowd parted in front of me, and something landed on the boards with a loud thump. Nopony spoke, like they were all waiting for permission to break the silence.

The Captain walked towards me from where he landed, boots plodding with every step, and what I remember being a strange clicking sound.

Now even then I was a relatively large stallion, just how we were bred. But when the captain grabbed me under my jaw and lifted my face up to his, I was startled by the strength. I found myself nose-to-nose with a curved, scarred beak, and two of the most furious eyes I’ve ever seen.

“What’s this dried-out, stinky bilge rat doin’ on my ship?!”

I had rarely the chance to see griffin’s before in my life. The ones I had typically had short sharp beaks, and demurred colors to blend in with the rocky terrain of their mountainous homeland. The beak in front of me was large, dark, and curved downwards. His feathers were a bright collection of yellow, green, blue and red. His talons dug into my jaw, and they felt like nails.

“Found ‘im on the island Cap’m. All starved and bedraggled.”

“Hmm.” Was all the Captain murmured as he scrutinized me. He cocked his head sideways to examine me up and down, making small grunts and barks as he went.
“He’s a stout Unicorn I’ll say that for ‘im.”

He let go of my face and lat me fall back down.

“Here’s‘ow it is mate,*BRAK!* You got two options: either stay onboard and pull your weight, or you go back in the drink! I’m always lookin’ for a strong back, but I ain’t got no tolerance for useless eaters!”

Well, what choice did I have? Join up with a band of rogues and criminals, or take a dive.
“I’ve always had an interest in ships.” I told him.

He smiled, as best he could with that monstrous beak anyways, and gave a slight chuckle.
“Good call lad, hate to loose another perfectly good shiphoof to the brine.”

My world changed when a bucket of fresh water was dumped on me, and I was helped to stand by a few of my new fellow pirates. The captain stood in front of me, not intimidated in the slightest by the fact that I was a good four hooves taller than him.

“My name is Captain Skorn, and this my ship, the Red Talon.” He stretched out his wings and gestured to the breadth of his seaborne kingdom. Looking upwards, I saw the icon on his sails, a pair of crimson claws.
“We travel the world in search of treasure and plunder, *BRAK* taking what we please and living the lives of the truly free.”

I glanced around and saw his crew all proudly nodding in agreement.
“But I’ll warn you right now greenhorn.” Skorn began in a low, threatening tone as he dug his claws into the floorboards and dragged a series of gashes before holding the talons up to my throat.
“If you ever try to cheat me, bamboozle me, or betray me in anyway, I’ll cut ‘yer belly open and string ‘yer gizzards across my masts for decoration. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal, Captain.”

“Good.” He said before turning away from me. A scraggily-maned Pegasus handed him a tri-cornered hat with feathered trim and a plume of larger ones sticking out of the top. A small monkey scampered its way though the forest of legs to climb up Skorn’s backside and perched on his shoulder.
“Since I ain’t got the patience to call you something different every time I needs to, be a good lad and tell us all ‘yer name.”

What should I tell him? I wondered. Who I was on land no longer mattered, there was nothing left for me, not after what happened in Aquileia. I was a nopony, with an old life too painful to want to carry on. This was my chance for a new beginning, to carve out my own fate. I gave my cutie mark a quick glance, deciding if I should tell him my real name, or…
“My name… my name is Sable Star.”

“Sable Star eh? Sounds fancy. Oh well, not the first high-born to turn to piracy. First mate! Find him a job.”

“Aye, aye Captain!” The Earth pony from before responded as Skorn strolled off, ducking down into the lower deck.

I wondered about myself in that moment. Here I was, a thousand or more leagues from a home I could never return to, abandoning my name and my history. It hurt, but what alternative was there? No longer would I be known as the Storm-Crier, no longer was I the Shield of the Aubergine.

No longer was I Prince Æclypse.
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PRESENT DAY CANTERLOT.
DAWN

With a deep breath, Celestia prepared to relieve her sister and assume her daily duties. Standing in the shadow of the archway, she watched Luna basking in the last slivers of the starlight, and the first few layers of the sunrise just over the horizon awaiting its avatar to summon it.

Luna had spared Celestia another dreamtime visit for information, leaving her to the harassment of her own subconscious. Conflicting visions of Æclypse had stormed through her mind while she slept, and the princess of the dawn had much to think about. There remained a few secrets yet about the whole affair that she kept tight to her breast, so maybe this was all a sign for her to unburden herself.

She lifted a hoof to step forward, but hesitated, letting it dangle inches off the floor.
I have seen fate do marvelous things in my time, and I rarely see it coming. Am I about to reveal thousand year-old secrets? Is that what destiny has in store for me?

“Good morning Luna.” She said, strolling onto the balcony.

Luna turned and gave her slight smile. “I believe that is your discretion sister.”

Joining her sibling by her side, Celestia gazed out over the east, “I am very sorry that things between us have been so strained lately. I… I had not anticipated having to bring all this up ever again.”

“Even we are but threads in the great tapestry of life Celestia, mere caricatures appearing on one panel and gone the next.”

Luna glanced over to her side but did not meet Celestia’s eyes. “I owe you an apology as well. It was inappropriate to try and seize your memories like that. I was angry, I felt that I deserved a little reprisal.”

Celestia knew what she meant by the statement, but it still sent a chill up her spine to think of Luna when she got angry.
“You deserved the truth, which I denied to you in my fear. It wasn’t what he would take from Equestria that struck at me the deepest. It was what he would take from me.”

Moving to face Luna directly, Celestia swallowed hard. “I was afraid of him taking you away from me.”

“Take me away from you?” Luna asked, “What are you talking about?”

“For as long as I can remember, it had always been the two of us, the only ones of our kind. We had never been apart for a day. Of course we had seen may ponies grow, get married, and move away from their foal-hood homes. When you told me about your affair, that’s what went through my mind. You would go to Thule and leave me behind.”

Luna went over to the wall of the balcony, and putting her forehooves on the ledge, leaned her chest to the surface.
“While I had found somepony to spend time with, for all your adulation from the masses, you were alone. The truth Sister, is that I pitied you.”

She laid the left side of her face on her limbs, glancing back to Celestia. “Ponies bowed and scraped to your every whim, but not one of them could see you as somepony who feels as they do. They looked up at you and saw a demigoddess from the heavens, and failed to see somepony who laughs, cries, jokes, gets upset, eats cake.
But despite my chagrin at being the lesser light, I was willing to let you have all the fame and glory. I had a handsome stallion whose teeth sparkled like the stars in the night sky.”

“I had you.” Celestia said, coming over to lean her own legs on the sill.

“Yes, you did. But we know that’s not the same is it? Or must we summon Cadence to explain things?”

Celestia couldn’t suppress a chuckle as she jostled Luna in the ribs with a hoof. “I had my share of suitors too, least you forget who had more dance partners at the balls.”

“The sun does shine on the meek and great alike.” Luna commented.

Celestia wasn’t quite sure how to take that, but she shrugged it off. “You’re right though, I was lonely. When I first saw that somepony had you smitten, I was a little jealous. You were never as encumbered by the royal life like I was, and you had a freer spirit than I did in our youth.”

The sisters gazed at each other for a moment, letting down the weight of their responsibility and history for a few precious moments.

“It drove me up the wall when you refused to tell me who it was!” The pale Alicorn chided before they both began laughing.

“I remember you chasing me around the garden one afternoon,” Luna reminisced, “You kept demanding that I tell you who he was, you tried to tickle me into hysterics. But I could see that you were happy for me.”

The night stars had faded away, their time to shine having passed.

“Even after I found out it was Æclypse, I wanted to be happy for you Luna.” looking to the grounds below, Celestia sighed. “But my fear of being left alone got the better of me, and in the end, that’s exactly how I ended-up for a thousand years.”

“Sometime sister, you must tell me if anypony dared to capture your heart while I was gone.”

There had in fact been somepony Celestia thought, whom romance had paired her with. Who it was would have been scandalizing for her, had he not been from someplace far distant, a reflection of somepony else. But that was her secret, her memory alone to cradle and hold to her core.
“Someday.” She said casually.

“May I ask how you plan to handle our apprentice princess? You have had great faith in Twilight Sparkle thus far.”

The change in subject was welcome, one Celestia was relieved to talk about.
“I’ll answer her questions, tell a few stories. Don’t worry, I’ll be fair to Æclypse.”

“You’ll grant her access to the Thule room then?”

“Better.” Celestia chimed with optimism. “I’ll let her decide what to do with it. Reopen the section, or even move it all somewhere else. She does have an awfully lot of empty rooms in that castle of hers.”

A pang of energy gripped both sister’s horns, a sign that the changing of the guard had reached the end of its grace period.

“The Moon calls for rest.” Luna announced,

“And the Sun calls to rise.” Celestia matched.

Side by side both Alicorns floated into the air, eyes closed, horns aglow. Like a giant ceiling mural being rotated, the moon descended into the west as the sun finally climbed above the horizon, its golden rays stretching across the sky to turn it from dark blue to light.

“Another dawn begets the waking life of Equestria.” Luna began in poetic voice. “Blossoming in it the vitality and harmony of each of its inhabitants.”

“Having rested contently though the tranquility of the night.” Celestia finished, “They arise restored and joyous to seek their destinies.”

They landed together facing the sunrise, letting the warmth bath over them.

Luna allowed herself a small grin. “Another successful dawn my sister.”

“I’ll make sure to annotate the tally board.” Unknown to all but a few, Celestia maintained a chalkboard in her room, whereon she etched a mark for every morning the two had brought since Luna’s return.

“I still want you to show me your argument with Æclypse.” The casual tone of Luna’s voice dropped, her request serious. She spoke over her shoulder as she turned to leave.

“Since you shared with me your image of him, I suppose it’s only fair you see mine. Allow me to deal with the day’s affairs, and I promise, I’ll show you what happened.” Celestia offered a sincere expression, hoping to put the recent anger between them to rest.

“See you then.” Luna left her sister on the balcony, the sound of the morning lifting up to be heard in the city.

Celestia took in the vista from her position. Birds chirping, shops starting their work, the bustle of traffic on the streets signaled the start of the daily lives of her subjects, those whom it was her duty to protect and guide.

Thinking back to those fateful days when she was forced to make decisions for Equestria’s future that would condemn, curse, and splinter a relative few for the good of the many. Looking down to the city and the lands beyond in the golden light of the morning, she knew that ultimately she had made the right decision. Through Discord, Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, and a thousand years of lonesomeness, Equestria had endured, Equestria had thrived, and so the lives of thousand of ponies were peaceful and prosperous.

That was the point of it all, she thought as she watched the citizens go about their routines. This was the reason why those burdens be borne, not for her own glory, not for her own comfort, but for theirs. She would give her life for them in a heartbeat if that’s what it took, that was the onus of her rule.

“Ahh… Your highness?”

The call of one of the palace guards broke her away from the calm of her meditation.
“Yes?” She asked him with matronly grace. “what is it?”

He was one of the many white stallions that served the palace, a fact she liked to instill in each of them during training, that their highest authority was Equestria, not her or any other royalty. For generations a dozen or so family bloodlines had provided the bulk of the volunteers, breeding many fine and hearty pristine white stallions. She had seen a hundred or more descendants, fathers, sons, and grandsons all kneel before her. It stuck her in the moment that the royal guard had been self-cultivated, a queer consequence of her efforts to keep them free.

“We think somepony broke into the Star Swirl the Bearded wing last night, the lock on the gate appears to have been forced open.”

Now this was strange. The Star Swirl wing went largely ignored by visitors, only Twilight and a few other dedicated scholars bothered with the dusty tomes.
“Was anything damaged or stolen?” Celestia

“We’re…. still trying to determine that Princess. The head librarian is on her way in, once she conducts her inspection we’ll know for sure. As of right now however, nothing appears to be disturbed.”

“Hopefully just a false alarm than.” Celestia remarked to give him some optimistic confidence. “Let me know if there’s any worthwhile development.”

“I will your highness.”
The stallion bowed before leaving, turning with the sharp, soldierly pivot.

Alone, Celestia wondered what could have happened last night. If somepony had managed to slip past the guards, and remain undetected long enough to access Star Swirl’s archives, then maybe the Thule wing wasn’t where her worry should be.
“Hmm.”

PONYVILLE
TWILIGHT’S CASTLE

“Uhhhh….”

Wanderlust slowly opened his eyes, and saw that he was laying on the floor. He winced as a throb of pain shot through his head, and he grit his teeth to restrain himself from crying out. He felt the puddle of drool that had accumulated under him, and soaked the right side of his muzzle. He wiped the side of his face and made a half-hearted effort to stand.

“Why did I think throttling that kid was a good idea?” He groaned.

Looking around at his surroundings, he tried to disperse the taste of morning breath, and was startled to find the sun beaming low through the window above him. It was intersected by a set of bars, one vertical, the other horizontal, which projected a large cross over the opposite wall.

“Morning? I was out all night? Jeez…”

The ramifications of his colossal blunder fell on him like an avalanche, the complete squandering of the headway he’d made in town.

“Stupid! Careless mistake! I was reckless! I played fast and loose with their goodwill. Now I’m… In some room.”

The space he was in was itself a curious thing. There was no door, the walls were a sparkling pinkish/purple, there was no door, and all the surfaces looked as if they had been hewn from solid crystal. I’m in Twilight’s castle! He realized.

“A crystal jail cell. I suppose I can knock this one off the bucket list.”

Going around the room, which was only big enough for a few strides at the widest, he felt for any indication of an opening or way out. It was now that it occurred to him that his saddle bags were not with him, and that was alarming.

“I’ve got to warn them, there can’t be much time left! HRRAW! If only I hadn’t lost my temper.”

Making his way around, he failed to find any crack, any crevice, the room was entirely sealed except for the window.

[sigh] “You’ve reeeeally done it this time, haven’t you old boy?”

Elsewhere in the castle, Twilight stared down at the diamond shaped crystal pedestal, on it, she watched Wanderlust search his room. In less than a day she had gone from looking forward to working with him, to imprisoning him in one of her spare rooms.

She had learned much about utilizing the magic of the crystals. Much like the kind that grew underneath Canterlot, she could use these for remote viewing to other parts of the castle, though she had yet to figure out how to get sound through. For now Wanderlust remained silent as he scratched at the walls and yelled for notice. She had sealed the doorway shut after putting him inside, Twilight didn’t want him disappearing before she got him to answer for himself.

“I see you in there Wanderlust.” She said. “I just don’t know what to do with you.”

She was sure the way he had abused the colt was a crime of some kind, but formal criminal laws generally wasn’t something they had in Ponyville. Ponies here just weren’t the type to be violent, besides, Twilight believed firmly in rehabilitation.

“I can’t just let you off the hook, but I can’t leave you in that room forever either.”

Twilight stepped back from the crystal pane, and threw herself stop her bed. On her back, she stared up at the ceiling, going over in her head what the logically right thing to do was. Eventually however, the conclusion that she had no precedent for this refused to be ignored. She needed help.

Trotting over to her work desk, she laid out a page of parchment, and dabbed her quill in the inkwell. Scrunching her mouth to the side, she thought hard about what exactly she would ask.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I write to you today not because of a lesson I have learned, but rather one I’m struggling to understand.

Twilight glanced over to the crystal panel, Wanderlust was banging on the wall, yelling something. She tapped the point of her feather on the side of the page, biting her lip.

There’s a new pony in town, his name is Wanderlust. At first he was the most interesting pony to come through since Cheese Sandwhich. He even knows about Thule, and agreed to help me with my research material. He’s done nothing but good for everypony he meets.

The image of Wanderlust holding that little colt against the wall last night played over again in her mind. The look in his eyes of rage, the snarl in his voice, like he was dealing with a monster instead of a child.

But he did something last night, something reprehensible that can’t be excused. It was inexplicable, totally contradicting his previous actions.

The contrast in his demeanor earlier in the day and at night had stunned her, and even as she lay his unconscious body in the room, she just couldn’t wrap her mind around such violence, such hatred from a pony.

I write to ask you Princess Celestia, for whatever guidance you can give me to understand how a good pony can do a terrible thing. Does he think he’s doing something right? Are we the ones in the wrong? I plan to talk to him, but I don’t know if I’ll trust anything he says.

She wanted to continue, but Twilight’s mind went blank on her for a second, and she found herself hovering the quill just above the paper as she tried to formulate her next thoughts. But try as she might, the next sentence just wouldn’t come.

“Twilight! Twilight!” Wanderlust yelled in his confinement. Aside from the window, there was positively no other access to the chamber. Frustrated at not being able to reach the outside, he sat on his rump and punched the floor with a hoof.
“That must be the reason behind the Everfree animals coming closer to civilization. They’re being pushed out by a more dominant specie. But I’ll never get them to believe me now, and I’ll certainly not get them the evidence they need sitting in solitary. I’ve got to break out of here. I’ve got to get my bags back before anypony looks inside.”

Leaning back from her desk, Twilight finally gave up trying to force her letter into completion.
“I’ll just have to finish it later.”

She got off her stool and on her way towards the doorway, she caught sight of the weather-worn saddle bags sitting in the corner. She remembered how startling heavy they had been when she took them. Even her own bags when packed with books were hardly as heavy, and despite the weight, nothing inside made a sound.

Twilight hadn’t given them much thought last night, but now with some time to kill and the chance to learn something about Wanderlust he may have wanted to withhold, she was tempted to see what they held.

Regarding them carefully, like she was approaching a potential danger, she pulled one of them towards her, and it scraped across the floor. It looked innocuous, just an old beat-up set that he probably still carried out of sentiment.

Her magical aura undid the belt clasp slowly, not knowing what might pop out. Twilight considered letting it be, but by now curiosity had full control of her motions. Gripping the cover flap, she began to open the bag.

“Twilight Dear?”

Surprised, Twilight looked up to see Rarity sheepishly poking her head in through the doorway. Shaking off the trance she greeted her friend, resecuring the bag and setting it aside.
“Oh, hi Rarity, what’s up?”

Rarity looked nervous, and she averted her gaze away from her friend as she entered.
“Well… I just feel so guilty after last night.”

“Don’t feel that way Rarity, you couldn’t have known he was going to-”

“That’s not what I mean Twilight, I’m trying to say that I should have been a better advocate yesterday.”

Twilight was visibly confused, “Wait, do you think we should have been easier on him last night?”

Rarity fidgeted for an answer, “I’m saying I shouldn’t have been so jealous of Trixie, and said something in his defense before Applejack went all ‘buck-wild’ on his head.”

“You were there with the rest of us, you saw what he was doing.” Twilight protested. “He hurt that little colt.”

“A colt I don’t recall seeing in town before two weeks ago.” Rarity said with a sharp intelligence in her eyes.

The Princess of Friendship was caught off guard by the observation, and realized that Rarity had a certain point. As a matter of fact, she didn’t even remember seeing that colt before last night herself. She paused to process what implications could be logically drawn, and things only got stranger. Looking over to her desk where her unfinished letter sat, and she made the decision that it could wait.

“Hear me out.” Rarity asked.

OVER PONYVILLE

Laying on a small cloud trying to enjoy her afternoon nap, Rainbow Dash huffed with irritation. Tossing and turning on her aerial bedding, she couldn’t remember a time when she hated being right so much. Wanderlust had been the talk of the town the past two days, and the fact that he had totally shouldered her out of the local lime-light was the least of the things she had against him.

He was shifty, he withheld information about himself, he conned his way into Rarity’s house, he has some cockamamie plan to open a school, and then he beats up a kid. She had every reason, personal and objective to dislike him, so why did it bug her so much she wondered?

Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie had no problem getting on with their day. But loyalty was a resentful animal, and would not tolerate threats to her friends. There was just something about him, swimming just beneath the surface that Rainbow couldn’t put her wing-tip on. One thing she couldn’t figure out, was that if he really was such a despicable fraud, why would he expose himself so blatantly? Didn’t he know committing a crime in the presence of a Princess would get him locked-up?

“And on top of it all he ruined a perfectly good napping afternoon!” She grumbled.

Rainbow Dash rose up to stretch her stomach, and when she plopped back down, she looked down over the edge of the cloud and came face-to-face with the offset eyes of Derpy.
“BAH! Derpy! You scared m-, I mean…. I wasn’t expecting you there.”

Clinging to the underside of Rainbow’s cloud, Derpy was as cheerful as usual.
“Sorry about that Rainbow Dash, I didn’t want to disturb your brooding. I was just going to ask if you’ve seen Wanderlust anywhere?”

“Uhhh! There he is again! I’m sick of hearing about Wanderlust! What did he do to you?”

“Do to me?” Derpy walked over the edge of the cloud to sit beside Rainbow. “He helped me.”

“Helped you with what?” Rainbow asked skeptically.

“I got caught in the rain the other night, and some little colts made me drop my muffins. They did it on purpose. But he came along and made me feel better. He didn’t know me at all, but he saw that I was sad, and sat in the rain with me. He said that whenever I’m sad, Told me I was pretty.” Derpy said with a blush and a small giggle.

“So he flashed a grin and told you how cute you are. Sounds exactly like how he sweet-talked Rarity.”

Derpy’s brow crouched down, “Oh no, not like that Rainbow Dash. He wanted me to remember to… um… wanted me to…” she tapped the side of her head to jog the memory. “Oh! Yeah, he wanted me to remember that even when things get bad, there’s always good stuff to keep you going. Like ‘cause I was sad, I shouldn’t forget what a happy pony I am.

At lease I think that’s what he meant.”

Rainbow grumbled. She wanted to hate Wanderlust, she wanted to be able to point to him and say ‘bad guy’, like they had been able to do with others before. But he was such a mixed-bag she just couldn’t fit him into one of her neat little boxes. Nuance wasn’t exactly one of her strong suits.

“I saw Wanderlust last night when he was getting kicked in the head.” Dash said before flying off.

Derpy put a hoof to her chest “Oh my.”

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After a week on the Red Talon, I was beginning to get my sea legs under me.

Before I washed-up on that island I had spent a few days fleeing from a nightmare, chasing after a fantasy of a hope. Now, I was trying to leave behind my whole life to become vandal. Under the penalty of Celestia’s dictate I was exiled from my home, forced to abandon my family, my tribe, my heritage, my legacy, and my honor. All that remained to me now was my willpower.

My initial few days on the Talon were a learning process. The first mate, the earth pony named Salty Veins, took me under his wing. Ship protocol was both strictly enforced and ignored, depending on the situation, but always with the captain. The rigging was a science, and was difficult comprehend how the intricate system worked. But I’ve always been a fast learner, and took every opportunity to get my hooves into the work. If my father could see me now.

On the third day, a few of us had been below deck having some lunch when they put the first test at me. I was sitting alone, when one of the group of three, a Pegasus who I would come to know as Grey Skies came up to me and ordered me to give him my apple. Knowing that I had to nip any pretense of weakness in the bud around these cutthroats, I stood up to him, and for a few tense seconds everypony was quiet. He shoved me, so I lifted him in my magic and slammed him against the wall.

His friends were shocked, and while Grey Skies recovered they burst into the most raucous laughter I would ever see on that ship. I made three new friends that day.

My work ethic combined with my physical presence quickly earned most of the crew’s respect. Salty Veins especially took a liking to me, and often told me stories about life at sea, be they ships they plundered, beautiful foreign lands they visited, and even strange phenomena none of them ever understood. I found myself liking the tales of the last most of all, I guess it spoke to the dreamer in me.

Captain Skorn was at times gregarious, and other times a violent lunatic. I once saw him rescue a family of sea-ponies from a drifting net that had ensnared them, then the very next day we boarded a ship and one by one he took the hapless crew into the sky and dropped them in the ocean for laughs.

His little pet, the monkey Te-Ki was as vile a little demon as I ever encountered, and it took a great pleasure tormenting me. He would steel my food, rip my clothes, and conspire to get me in fights with the other crew members. It once took three others to pull me away from a brawl which I later found out Te-Ki had instigated.

But life on the Red Talon was mostly just waiting out the days. We’d make port every now and then for trade and restocking, and I’d enjoy exploring the local culture. After a while I had my own memories of mesmerizing lands and sights, meeting folk I never hear of existing, and learning exotic magic spells. I had met many a fair mare in my travels too, leaving more than a few of them pining for my return. But despite then many times I was intimate with some beautiful mare, it never equaled the feeling I had when I was with Luna.

By the gods I missed her, and often thought of trying to reach out to her through the dreamscape. But that would only reopen the wounds I was trying to escape from. Besides, after Luna only one mare had managed to crack the shell around my heart, and she was gone now.

There was a pivotal moment about a week and a half after I joined Skorn’s crew, one that shaped the rest of my relationship with him.
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Continued in part 2!!! Link Below

Description
Misery
You insist that the weight of the world
Should be on my shoulders.
Misery
There’s much more to life than what you see
My friend of misery.

The first thing I remember about my time aboard the Red Talon, was the taste of the salt water on my tongue.

I awoke face down on the wooden deck, and I could feel the subtle bob and bounce of the water under the ship. I opened my eyes and watched the thin film of seawater wash over the knots and fibers, droplets fell from the bangs of my mane. There was a cool breeze, the sound of gulls, and the creaking of the hull told me that we were sailing and not docked.

“Look what we found skulkin’ around the island!” I heard one of them say. The shuffle of hooves sounded around me, and the sun was blotted out as they converged. A few chuckled, a few poked at me. I was too weak from malnutrition, and I was still too groggy from the blow to my head to make any pretense of defending myself from that gaggle of pirates, so I decided not to give them any reason to skewer me.

I made slow progress getting to stand, careful not to make any sudden moves, not that I could have been mustered any more than a feeble swing in my sorry state. Like earlier on the beach my strength deserted me, and I slumped back down on the deck with a thump, eliciting a chorus of hearty laughter from the crew.

“Look at ‘em! Washed out like a dish rag!”

“He’s a big fella isn’t he?

“I think he’ll make a good galley maid!”

“You think cap’m will let us hoist ‘im up like a piñata?”

The last suggestion apparently was a riot, earning another round of cheers. Lifting my head, I looked around at my captors, a motley collection of ponies from near and distant lands. Unicorns, Cloudies, Tillers, all of them hardened by lives of seafaring and plundering. I saw the two from the beach staring down at me smirking, the Pegasus taking another swig from the bottle.

“Had a devil of a time getting’ you aboard mate!” The Earth pony said to me, his speech slurred from the drink. His voice was gruff, the kind that meant he spent a lot of time yelling, which meant he was somepony of position. “Almost lost you overboard a few times in the dinghy.”

“Why did you take me?” I asked. “What do you want with me?”

“It’s our general practice not to maroon castaways, considered wasting resources. Per the Captain’s directive of course.”

Lucky me, I thought.

“As for what’s to be done with ya’, well that prerogative belongs to the captain of this ‘ere vessel.”

My temporary sobriety faltered, and a fainting spell threatened to overtake me. Whatever sustenance I got on the island hadn’t gone very far, I needed water and something to eat.

“Your captain…” I managed to focus my mind enough to say, “Can he get me-”

“Uh!” He cut me off, everyponies attention shifting away from me. “Whatever you were gonna ask, you can ask ‘im yerself.”

From above us I could hear the flapping of wings, and a shadow passed over the deck, the speed of it and my dizziness prevented me from discerning much detail.

“Attention on deck lads! Captain’s returned!”

The crowd parted in front of me, and something landed on the boards with a loud thump. Nopony spoke, like they were all waiting for permission to break the silence.

The Captain walked towards me from where he landed, boots plodding with every step, and what I remember being a strange clicking sound.

Now even then I was a relatively large stallion, just how we were bred. But when the captain grabbed me under my jaw and lifted my face up to his, I was startled by the strength. I found myself nose-to-nose with a curved, scarred beak, and two of the most furious eyes I’ve ever seen.

“What’s this dried-out, stinky bilge rat doin’ on my ship?!”

I had rarely the chance to see griffin’s before in my life. The ones I had typically had short sharp beaks, and demurred colors to blend in with the rocky terrain of their mountainous homeland. The beak in front of me was large, dark, and curved downwards. His feathers were a bright collection of yellow, green, blue and red. His talons dug into my jaw, and they felt like nails.

“Found ‘im on the island Cap’m. All starved and bedraggled.”

“Hmm.” Was all the Captain murmured as he scrutinized me. He cocked his head sideways to examine me up and down, making small grunts and barks as he went.
“He’s a stout Unicorn I’ll say that for ‘im.”

He let go of my face and lat me fall back down.

“Here’s‘ow it is mate,*BRAK!* You got two options: either stay onboard and pull your weight, or you go back in the drink! I’m always lookin’ for a strong back, but I ain’t got no tolerance for useless eaters!”

Well, what choice did I have? Join up with a band of rogues and criminals, or take a dive.
“I’ve always had an interest in ships.” I told him.

He smiled, as best he could with that monstrous beak anyways, and gave a slight chuckle.
“Good call lad, hate to loose another perfectly good shiphoof to the brine.”

My world changed when a bucket of fresh water was dumped on me, and I was helped to stand by a few of my new fellow pirates. The captain stood in front of me, not intimidated in the slightest by the fact that I was a good four hooves taller than him.

“My name is Captain Skorn, and this my ship, the Red Talon.” He stretched out his wings and gestured to the breadth of his seaborne kingdom. Looking upwards, I saw the icon on his sails, a pair of crimson claws.
“We travel the world in search of treasure and plunder, *BRAK* taking what we please and living the lives of the truly free.”

I glanced around and saw his crew all proudly nodding in agreement.
“But I’ll warn you right now greenhorn.” Skorn began in a low, threatening tone as he dug his claws into the floorboards and dragged a series of gashes before holding the talons up to my throat.
“If you ever try to cheat me, bamboozle me, or betray me in anyway, I’ll cut ‘yer belly open and string ‘yer gizzards across my masts for decoration. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal, Captain.”

“Good.” He said before turning away from me. A scraggily-maned Pegasus handed him a tri-cornered hat with feathered trim and a plume of larger ones sticking out of the top. A small monkey scampered its way though the forest of legs to climb up Skorn’s backside and perched on his shoulder.
“Since I ain’t got the patience to call you something different every time I needs to, be a good lad and tell us all ‘yer name.”

What should I tell him? I wondered. Who I was on land no longer mattered, there was nothing left for me, not after what happened in Aquileia. I was a nopony, with an old life too painful to want to carry on. This was my chance for a new beginning, to carve out my own fate. I gave my cutie mark a quick glance, deciding if I should tell him my real name, or…
“My name… my name is Sable Star.”

“Sable Star eh? Sounds fancy. Oh well, not the first high-born to turn to piracy. First mate! Find him a job.”

“Aye, aye Captain!” The Earth pony from before responded as Skorn strolled off, ducking down into the lower deck.

I wondered about myself in that moment. Here I was, a thousand or more leagues from a home I could never return to, abandoning my name and my history. It hurt, but what alternative was there? No longer would I be known as the Storm-Crier, no longer was I the Shield of the Aubergine.

No longer was I Prince Æclypse.
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PRESENT DAY CANTERLOT.
DAWN

With a deep breath, Celestia prepared to relieve her sister and assume her daily duties. Standing in the shadow of the archway, she watched Luna basking in the last slivers of the starlight, and the first few layers of the sunrise just over the horizon awaiting its avatar to summon it.

Luna had spared Celestia another dreamtime visit for information, leaving her to the harassment of her own subconscious. Conflicting visions of Æclypse had stormed through her mind while she slept, and the princess of the dawn had much to think about. There remained a few secrets yet about the whole affair that she kept tight to her breast, so maybe this was all a sign for her to unburden herself.

She lifted a hoof to step forward, but hesitated, letting it dangle inches off the floor.
I have seen fate do marvelous things in my time, and I rarely see it coming. Am I about to reveal thousand year-old secrets? Is that what destiny has in store for me?

“Good morning Luna.” She said, strolling onto the balcony.

Luna turned and gave her slight smile. “I believe that is your discretion sister.”

Joining her sibling by her side, Celestia gazed out over the east, “I am very sorry that things between us have been so strained lately. I… I had not anticipated having to bring all this up ever again.”

“Even we are but threads in the great tapestry of life Celestia, mere caricatures appearing on one panel and gone the next.”

Luna glanced over to her side but did not meet Celestia’s eyes. “I owe you an apology as well. It was inappropriate to try and seize your memories like that. I was angry, I felt that I deserved a little reprisal.”

Celestia knew what she meant by the statement, but it still sent a chill up her spine to think of Luna when she got angry.
“You deserved the truth, which I denied to you in my fear. It wasn’t what he would take from Equestria that struck at me the deepest. It was what he would take from me.”

Moving to face Luna directly, Celestia swallowed hard. “I was afraid of him taking you away from me.”

“Take me away from you?” Luna asked, “What are you talking about?”

“For as long as I can remember, it had always been the two of us, the only ones of our kind. We had never been apart for a day. Of course we had seen may ponies grow, get married, and move away from their foal-hood homes. When you told me about your affair, that’s what went through my mind. You would go to Thule and leave me behind.”

Luna went over to the wall of the balcony, and putting her forehooves on the ledge, leaned her chest to the surface.
“While I had found somepony to spend time with, for all your adulation from the masses, you were alone. The truth Sister, is that I pitied you.”

She laid the left side of her face on her limbs, glancing back to Celestia. “Ponies bowed and scraped to your every whim, but not one of them could see you as somepony who feels as they do. They looked up at you and saw a demigoddess from the heavens, and failed to see somepony who laughs, cries, jokes, gets upset, eats cake.
But despite my chagrin at being the lesser light, I was willing to let you have all the fame and glory. I had a handsome stallion whose teeth sparkled like the stars in the night sky.”

“I had you.” Celestia said, coming over to lean her own legs on the sill.

“Yes, you did. But we know that’s not the same is it? Or must we summon Cadence to explain things?”

Celestia couldn’t suppress a chuckle as she jostled Luna in the ribs with a hoof. “I had my share of suitors too, least you forget who had more dance partners at the balls.”

“The sun does shine on the meek and great alike.” Luna commented.

Celestia wasn’t quite sure how to take that, but she shrugged it off. “You’re right though, I was lonely. When I first saw that somepony had you smitten, I was a little jealous. You were never as encumbered by the royal life like I was, and you had a freer spirit than I did in our youth.”

The sisters gazed at each other for a moment, letting down the weight of their responsibility and history for a few precious moments.

“It drove me up the wall when you refused to tell me who it was!” The pale Alicorn chided before they both began laughing.

“I remember you chasing me around the garden one afternoon,” Luna reminisced, “You kept demanding that I tell you who he was, you tried to tickle me into hysterics. But I could see that you were happy for me.”

The night stars had faded away, their time to shine having passed.

“Even after I found out it was Æclypse, I wanted to be happy for you Luna.” looking to the grounds below, Celestia sighed. “But my fear of being left alone got the better of me, and in the end, that’s exactly how I ended-up for a thousand years.”

“Sometime sister, you must tell me if anypony dared to capture your heart while I was gone.”

There had in fact been somepony Celestia thought, whom romance had paired her with. Who it was would have been scandalizing for her, had he not been from someplace far distant, a reflection of somepony else. But that was her secret, her memory alone to cradle and hold to her core.
“Someday.” She said casually.

“May I ask how you plan to handle our apprentice princess? You have had great faith in Twilight Sparkle thus far.”

The change in subject was welcome, one Celestia was relieved to talk about.
“I’ll answer her questions, tell a few stories. Don’t worry, I’ll be fair to Æclypse.”

“You’ll grant her access to the Thule room then?”

“Better.” Celestia chimed with optimism. “I’ll let her decide what to do with it. Reopen the section, or even move it all somewhere else. She does have an awfully lot of empty rooms in that castle of hers.”

A pang of energy gripped both sister’s horns, a sign that the changing of the guard had reached the end of its grace period.

“The Moon calls for rest.” Luna announced,

“And the Sun calls to rise.” Celestia matched.

Side by side both Alicorns floated into the air, eyes closed, horns aglow. Like a giant ceiling mural being rotated, the moon descended into the west as the sun finally climbed above the horizon, its golden rays stretching across the sky to turn it from dark blue to light.

“Another dawn begets the waking life of Equestria.” Luna began in poetic voice. “Blossoming in it the vitality and harmony of each of its inhabitants.”

“Having rested contently though the tranquility of the night.” Celestia finished, “They arise restored and joyous to seek their destinies.”

They landed together facing the sunrise, letting the warmth bath over them.

Luna allowed herself a small grin. “Another successful dawn my sister.”

“I’ll make sure to annotate the tally board.” Unknown to all but a few, Celestia maintained a chalkboard in her room, whereon she etched a mark for every morning the two had brought since Luna’s return.

“I still want you to show me your argument with Æclypse.” The casual tone of Luna’s voice dropped, her request serious. She spoke over her shoulder as she turned to leave.

“Since you shared with me your image of him, I suppose it’s only fair you see mine. Allow me to deal with the day’s affairs, and I promise, I’ll show you what happened.” Celestia offered a sincere expression, hoping to put the recent anger between them to rest.

“See you then.” Luna left her sister on the balcony, the sound of the morning lifting up to be heard in the city.

Celestia took in the vista from her position. Birds chirping, shops starting their work, the bustle of traffic on the streets signaled the start of the daily lives of her subjects, those whom it was her duty to protect and guide.

Thinking back to those fateful days when she was forced to make decisions for Equestria’s future that would condemn, curse, and splinter a relative few for the good of the many. Looking down to the city and the lands beyond in the golden light of the morning, she knew that ultimately she had made the right decision. Through Discord, Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, and a thousand years of lonesomeness, Equestria had endured, Equestria had thrived, and so the lives of thousand of ponies were peaceful and prosperous.

That was the point of it all, she thought as she watched the citizens go about their routines. This was the reason why those burdens be borne, not for her own glory, not for her own comfort, but for theirs. She would give her life for them in a heartbeat if that’s what it took, that was the onus of her rule.

“Ahh… Your highness?”

The call of one of the palace guards broke her away from the calm of her meditation.
“Yes?” She asked him with matronly grace. “what is it?”

He was one of the many white stallions that served the palace, a fact she liked to instill in each of them during training, that their highest authority was Equestria, not her or any other royalty. For generations a dozen or so family bloodlines had provided the bulk of the volunteers, breeding many fine and hearty pristine white stallions. She had seen a hundred or more descendants, fathers, sons, and grandsons all kneel before her. It stuck her in the moment that the royal guard had been self-cultivated, a queer consequence of her efforts to keep them free.

“We think somepony broke into the Star Swirl the Bearded wing last night, the lock on the gate appears to have been forced open.”

Now this was strange. The Star Swirl wing went largely ignored by visitors, only Twilight and a few other dedicated scholars bothered with the dusty tomes.
“Was anything damaged or stolen?” Celestia

“We’re…. still trying to determine that Princess. The head librarian is on her way in, once she conducts her inspection we’ll know for sure. As of right now however, nothing appears to be disturbed.”

“Hopefully just a false alarm than.” Celestia remarked to give him some optimistic confidence. “Let me know if there’s any worthwhile development.”

“I will your highness.”
The stallion bowed before leaving, turning with the sharp, soldierly pivot.

Alone, Celestia wondered what could have happened last night. If somepony had managed to slip past the guards, and remain undetected long enough to access Star Swirl’s archives, then maybe the Thule wing wasn’t where her worry should be.
“Hmm.”

PONYVILLE
TWILIGHT’S CASTLE

“Uhhhh….”

Wanderlust slowly opened his eyes, and saw that he was laying on the floor. He winced as a throb of pain shot through his head, and he grit his teeth to restrain himself from crying out. He felt the puddle of drool that had accumulated under him, and soaked the right side of his muzzle. He wiped the side of his face and made a half-hearted effort to stand.

“Why did I think throttling that kid was a good idea?” He groaned.

Looking around at his surroundings, he tried to disperse the taste of morning breath, and was startled to find the sun beaming low through the window above him. It was intersected by a set of bars, one vertical, the other horizontal, which projected a large cross over the opposite wall.

“Morning? I was out all night? Jeez…”

The ramifications of his colossal blunder fell on him like an avalanche, the complete squandering of the headway he’d made in town.

“Stupid! Careless mistake! I was reckless! I played fast and loose with their goodwill. Now I’m… In some room.”

The space he was in was itself a curious thing. There was no door, the walls were a sparkling pinkish/purple, there was no door, and all the surfaces looked as if they had been hewn from solid crystal. I’m in Twilight’s castle! He realized.

“A crystal jail cell. I suppose I can knock this one off the bucket list.”

Going around the room, which was only big enough for a few strides at the widest, he felt for any indication of an opening or way out. It was now that it occurred to him that his saddle bags were not with him, and that was alarming.

“I’ve got to warn them, there can’t be much time left! HRRAW! If only I hadn’t lost my temper.”

Making his way around, he failed to find any crack, any crevice, the room was entirely sealed except for the window.

[sigh] “You’ve reeeeally done it this time, haven’t you old boy?”

Elsewhere in the castle, Twilight stared down at the diamond shaped crystal pedestal, on it, she watched Wanderlust search his room. In less than a day she had gone from looking forward to working with him, to imprisoning him in one of her spare rooms.

She had learned much about utilizing the magic of the crystals. Much like the kind that grew underneath Canterlot, she could use these for remote viewing to other parts of the castle, though she had yet to figure out how to get sound through. For now Wanderlust remained silent as he scratched at the walls and yelled for notice. She had sealed the doorway shut after putting him inside, Twilight didn’t want him disappearing before she got him to answer for himself.

“I see you in there Wanderlust.” She said. “I just don’t know what to do with you.”

She was sure the way he had abused the colt was a crime of some kind, but formal criminal laws generally wasn’t something they had in Ponyville. Ponies here just weren’t the type to be violent, besides, Twilight believed firmly in rehabilitation.

“I can’t just let you off the hook, but I can’t leave you in that room forever either.”

Twilight stepped back from the crystal pane, and threw herself stop her bed. On her back, she stared up at the ceiling, going over in her head what the logically right thing to do was. Eventually however, the conclusion that she had no precedent for this refused to be ignored. She needed help.

Trotting over to her work desk, she laid out a page of parchment, and dabbed her quill in the inkwell. Scrunching her mouth to the side, she thought hard about what exactly she would ask.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I write to you today not because of a lesson I have learned, but rather one I’m struggling to understand.

Twilight glanced over to the crystal panel, Wanderlust was banging on the wall, yelling something. She tapped the point of her feather on the side of the page, biting her lip.

There’s a new pony in town, his name is Wanderlust. At first he was the most interesting pony to come through since Cheese Sandwhich. He even knows about Thule, and agreed to help me with my research material. He’s done nothing but good for everypony he meets.

The image of Wanderlust holding that little colt against the wall last night played over again in her mind. The look in his eyes of rage, the snarl in his voice, like he was dealing with a monster instead of a child.

But he did something last night, something reprehensible that can’t be excused. It was inexplicable, totally contradicting his previous actions.

The contrast in his demeanor earlier in the day and at night had stunned her, and even as she lay his unconscious body in the room, she just couldn’t wrap her mind around such violence, such hatred from a pony.

I write to ask you Princess Celestia, for whatever guidance you can give me to understand how a good pony can do a terrible thing. Does he think he’s doing something right? Are we the ones in the wrong? I plan to talk to him, but I don’t know if I’ll trust anything he says.

She wanted to continue, but Twilight’s mind went blank on her for a second, and she found herself hovering the quill just above the paper as she tried to formulate her next thoughts. But try as she might, the next sentence just wouldn’t come.

“Twilight! Twilight!” Wanderlust yelled in his confinement. Aside from the window, there was positively no other access to the chamber. Frustrated at not being able to reach the outside, he sat on his rump and punched the floor with a hoof.
“That must be the reason behind the Everfree animals coming closer to civilization. They’re being pushed out by a more dominant specie. But I’ll never get them to believe me now, and I’ll certainly not get them the evidence they need sitting in solitary. I’ve got to break out of here. I’ve got to get my bags back before anypony looks inside.”

Leaning back from her desk, Twilight finally gave up trying to force her letter into completion.
“I’ll just have to finish it later.”

She got off her stool and on her way towards the doorway, she caught sight of the weather-worn saddle bags sitting in the corner. She remembered how startling heavy they had been when she took them. Even her own bags when packed with books were hardly as heavy, and despite the weight, nothing inside made a sound.

Twilight hadn’t given them much thought last night, but now with some time to kill and the chance to learn something about Wanderlust he may have wanted to withhold, she was tempted to see what they held.

Regarding them carefully, like she was approaching a potential danger, she pulled one of them towards her, and it scraped across the floor. It looked innocuous, just an old beat-up set that he probably still carried out of sentiment.

Her magical aura undid the belt clasp slowly, not knowing what might pop out. Twilight considered letting it be, but by now curiosity had full control of her motions. Gripping the cover flap, she began to open the bag.

“Twilight Dear?”

Surprised, Twilight looked up to see Rarity sheepishly poking her head in through the doorway. Shaking off the trance she greeted her friend, resecuring the bag and setting it aside.
“Oh, hi Rarity, what’s up?”

Rarity looked nervous, and she averted her gaze away from her friend as she entered.
“Well… I just feel so guilty after last night.”

“Don’t feel that way Rarity, you couldn’t have known he was going to-”

“That’s not what I mean Twilight, I’m trying to say that I should have been a better advocate yesterday.”

Twilight was visibly confused, “Wait, do you think we should have been easier on him last night?”

Rarity fidgeted for an answer, “I’m saying I shouldn’t have been so jealous of Trixie, and said something in his defense before Applejack went all ‘buck-wild’ on his head.”

“You were there with the rest of us, you saw what he was doing.” Twilight protested. “He hurt that little colt.”

“A colt I don’t recall seeing in town before two weeks ago.” Rarity said with a sharp intelligence in her eyes.

The Princess of Friendship was caught off guard by the observation, and realized that Rarity had a certain point. As a matter of fact, she didn’t even remember seeing that colt before last night herself. She paused to process what implications could be logically drawn, and things only got stranger. Looking over to her desk where her unfinished letter sat, and she made the decision that it could wait.

“Hear me out.” Rarity asked.

OVER PONYVILLE

Laying on a small cloud trying to enjoy her afternoon nap, Rainbow Dash huffed with irritation. Tossing and turning on her aerial bedding, she couldn’t remember a time when she hated being right so much. Wanderlust had been the talk of the town the past two days, and the fact that he had totally shouldered her out of the local lime-light was the least of the things she had against him.

He was shifty, he withheld information about himself, he conned his way into Rarity’s house, he has some cockamamie plan to open a school, and then he beats up a kid. She had every reason, personal and objective to dislike him, so why did it bug her so much she wondered?

Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie had no problem getting on with their day. But loyalty was a resentful animal, and would not tolerate threats to her friends. There was just something about him, swimming just beneath the surface that Rainbow couldn’t put her wing-tip on. One thing she couldn’t figure out, was that if he really was such a despicable fraud, why would he expose himself so blatantly? Didn’t he know committing a crime in the presence of a Princess would get him locked-up?

“And on top of it all he ruined a perfectly good napping afternoon!” She grumbled.

Rainbow Dash rose up to stretch her stomach, and when she plopped back down, she looked down over the edge of the cloud and came face-to-face with the offset eyes of Derpy.
“BAH! Derpy! You scared m-, I mean…. I wasn’t expecting you there.”

Clinging to the underside of Rainbow’s cloud, Derpy was as cheerful as usual.
“Sorry about that Rainbow Dash, I didn’t want to disturb your brooding. I was just going to ask if you’ve seen Wanderlust anywhere?”

“Uhhh! There he is again! I’m sick of hearing about Wanderlust! What did he do to you?”

“Do to me?” Derpy walked over the edge of the cloud to sit beside Rainbow. “He helped me.”

“Helped you with what?” Rainbow asked skeptically.

“I got caught in the rain the other night, and some little colts made me drop my muffins. They did it on purpose. But he came along and made me feel better. He didn’t know me at all, but he saw that I was sad, and sat in the rain with me. He said that whenever I’m sad, Told me I was pretty.” Derpy said with a blush and a small giggle.

“So he flashed a grin and told you how cute you are. Sounds exactly like how he sweet-talked Rarity.”

Derpy’s brow crouched down, “Oh no, not like that Rainbow Dash. He wanted me to remember to… um… wanted me to…” she tapped the side of her head to jog the memory. “Oh! Yeah, he wanted me to remember that even when things get bad, there’s always good stuff to keep you going. Like ‘cause I was sad, I shouldn’t forget what a happy pony I am.

At lease I think that’s what he meant.”

Rainbow grumbled. She wanted to hate Wanderlust, she wanted to be able to point to him and say ‘bad guy’, like they had been able to do with others before. But he was such a mixed-bag she just couldn’t fit him into one of her neat little boxes. Nuance wasn’t exactly one of her strong suits.

“I saw Wanderlust last night when he was getting kicked in the head.” Dash said before flying off.

Derpy put a hoof to her chest “Oh my.”

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After a week on the Red Talon, I was beginning to get my sea legs under me.

Before I washed-up on that island I had spent a few days fleeing from a nightmare, chasing after a fantasy of a hope. Now, I was trying to leave behind my whole life to become vandal. Under the penalty of Celestia’s dictate I was exiled from my home, forced to abandon my family, my tribe, my heritage, my legacy, and my honor. All that remained to me now was my willpower.

My initial few days on the Talon were a learning process. The first mate, the earth pony named Salty Veins, took me under his wing. Ship protocol was both strictly enforced and ignored, depending on the situation, but always with the captain. The rigging was a science, and was difficult comprehend how the intricate system worked. But I’ve always been a fast learner, and took every opportunity to get my hooves into the work. If my father could see me now.

On the third day, a few of us had been below deck having some lunch when they put the first test at me. I was sitting alone, when one of the group of three, a Pegasus who I would come to know as Grey Skies came up to me and ordered me to give him my apple. Knowing that I had to nip any pretense of weakness in the bud around these cutthroats, I stood up to him, and for a few tense seconds everypony was quiet. He shoved me, so I lifted him in my magic and slammed him against the wall.

His friends were shocked, and while Grey Skies recovered they burst into the most raucous laughter I would ever see on that ship. I made three new friends that day.

My work ethic combined with my physical presence quickly earned most of the crew’s respect. Salty Veins especially took a liking to me, and often told me stories about life at sea, be they ships they plundered, beautiful foreign lands they visited, and even strange phenomena none of them ever understood. I found myself liking the tales of the last most of all, I guess it spoke to the dreamer in me.

Captain Skorn was at times gregarious, and other times a violent lunatic. I once saw him rescue a family of sea-ponies from a drifting net that had ensnared them, then the very next day we boarded a ship and one by one he took the hapless crew into the sky and dropped them in the ocean for laughs.

His little pet, the monkey Te-Ki was as vile a little demon as I ever encountered, and it took a great pleasure tormenting me. He would steel my food, rip my clothes, and conspire to get me in fights with the other crew members. It once took three others to pull me away from a brawl which I later found out Te-Ki had instigated.

But life on the Red Talon was mostly just waiting out the days. We’d make port every now and then for trade and restocking, and I’d enjoy exploring the local culture. After a while I had my own memories of mesmerizing lands and sights, meeting folk I never hear of existing, and learning exotic magic spells. I had met many a fair mare in my travels too, leaving more than a few of them pining for my return. But despite then many times I was intimate with some beautiful mare, it never equaled the feeling I had when I was with Luna.

By the gods I missed her, and often thought of trying to reach out to her through the dreamscape. But that would only reopen the wounds I was trying to escape from. Besides, after Luna only one mare had managed to crack the shell around my heart, and she was gone now.

There was a pivotal moment about a week and a half after I joined Skorn’s crew, one that shaped the rest of my relationship with him.
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Continued in part 2!!! Link Below