Adventures of the Equestrian Seas

"Ugh..."

"Twilight, you awake?"

"Thank you, Miss Scholarly... I couldn't have a better teacher of magical theory..."

"... What?"

Twilight opened her eyes.  She jumped up.  Where was she?  She tried to gain her bearings by looking around; not her room, but a bedroom to be sure.  Then, her memory began to catch up with her: she was in a library tree house in a town on an island full of crazy ponies.  And said ponies were currently throwing a party downstairs.  In a LIBRARY of all places.  Twilight herself had come upstairs to go to sleep after a particularly harrowing event involving poorly placed hot sauce and the pony she knew now to be Pinkie Pie.  Then, she remembered getting so angry she burst into flames, and storming upstairs with the prospect of sleep and a few choice swears on her mind.

"They're still here?"

"Yep. It's the night of the Summer Sun Celebration, so I assume they're either enjoying themselves or making attempts to keep awake until midnight."

Twilight groaned.  She had spent all day moving about at least two islands and was no closer to knowing the riddle of the Mare on the Moon.  All she knew was whatever was supposed to happen was supposed to happen tonight.

"Speaking of, we should get going! The ceremony should begin soon! I bet all of the council ponies will be there, including Cadence."

Twilight sat up.  "Well, let's get this over with.  The sooner this is done, the sooner I can gloat about how I was right when Nightmare Moon unleashes the Moonpocalypse on us."   She hopped from bed and trotted down stairs to find other ponies were already filing out of her temporary residence.

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Ponies were packed into the ball room, celebrating, talking, and having a generally good time.  Twilight found the time to say hi to a few ponies here and there, but didn't want to break into further conversation.  Just then, Twilight noticed a pink body moving among the ponies; none other than Cadence, who approached her with a smile.  "Twilight Sparkle! Oh, it's lovely to see you!"

Twilight smiled, although it was only half mirthful.  "Hi Cadence... nice to see you too.  How've you been?"

Cadence giggled.  "I've been well.  The chariot ride over was a bit bumpy but--"

"Chariot ride?" said Twilight.

Cadence blinked.  "Yes?"

"You rode a CHARIOT here? After sending me here on a boat? As well as my predecessor who, need I remind you, was likely eaten if not dragged to a horrible drowning death below the ocean."

Cadence leaned back.  "Yeah? I figured if you were around more ponies it might be easier for you to make friends."  Cadence regained a little standing ground, looking at Twilight with clear concern.  "Twilight, I wanted you to make friends.  That's a big part of the reason I asked you to do this."

"Make friends?"

"Yes" said Cadence, smiling a bit under the certainty Twilight understood.

There was a thick silence about the two ponies; the rest of the world seemed to fade away from reality as they stared each other down.  "You sent me... to this island... to do all this work... to throw up more than I thought I could... after a deal of humiliation from the Council... just to make friends!?"

Twilight didn't intend to yell that last part.  Suddenly, everypony was staring straight at the two.

"T-Twilight, you're causing a scene..."

"I don't care!" shouted Twilight.  "You've... you sent me to... but... I don't... Why!? It wasn't good enough that you just sat idly by while I humiliated myself in front of council!? You didn't speak a word when I said anything about Nightmare Moon, but you had the ability to send me on this errand!? If you could do that, if you could send me on some sort of trip to make friends, why couldn't you have spoken up for me when I needed a friend!?"

Cadence stared at Twilight as if she were crazy.  "Twilight... I just worry for you..."

Twilight didn't respond.

"You've been locking yourself in your home for years now.  You rarely, if ever, interact with other ponies besides family members.  Every year I watch you waste your life away, doing research and studying, and never having more interraction with ponies than you were forced to by that very same research."

Twilight furrowed her brow.  "Wasting my life!? With research!? Research is what advances society! It's what seperates us from the Timberwolves, and you would have me out... swapping gossip and... and... talking about colts!?"

"Yes."  Said Cadence, matter-of-factly.  "You've become antisocial, Twilight! You're a shut-in! It was understandable when you were studying in the Unicorn Academy Tower, but ever since your return to Canterlot, you've done nothing but sit inside and study! You may still be an Apprentice, but your mentor communicates solely by dragon-mail! And while everypony out there grows, you remain stunted by your own wit! You spend your life studying while it passes you by! Have you ever fallen in love? Have you ever had somepony to confide secrets to? You've been a shut-in, Twilight Sparkle, and you refuse to give it a greater purpose by yourself, and at this rate, I worry that if I don't interfere, you'll never do anything greater with your life than study!"

Twilight stared, wide-eyed at Cadence, her eyes glimmering with the preset of tears.  Cadence's expression softened.

"... I wanted better for you... I worry for you, Twilight, and I don't want you to spend your entire life in books... I don't want you to grow old and alone, without ever having known the things that truly make life worth living..."

"Is that what you think of me?" Said Twilight simply.  "That I'm a shut-in? That my life holds no purpose or meaning? That my research and my studies mean nothing? That I can't... that I can't make friends on my own?"

"Now Twilight, that's not what I-"

"No, it's exactly what you said."

Twilight, without another word, turned about and trotted off.  Nearby, Spike looked towards Cadence and to where Twilight had fled.  He gave Cadence an apologetic look before dashing off after Twilight Sparkle.  Cadence looked around to all the ponies staring at her.  She couldn't help but give a soft, yet firm expression and response.

"Please return to your festivities.  I apologize for the drama..."

Everypony did as instructed, returning to the festivities at hoof, although the events of the night had certainly become the center of much conversation and gossip.  Rarity sat nearby, a cup of punch in her magical aura, looking at where Twilight had disappeared.  "Well... that was.... something..." She took a sip of her punch and looked back to her hooves.  Twilight had seemed so level-headed before, so intelligent; what could possibly set her off like that? She sighed and turned her attention to a nearby window, looking out at the moon.

Something about it seemed... off... but she couldn't quite put a hoof on it.  She stared at it for a while before shaking her head, deciding it was probably just her imagination.

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"Good morning Twilight!"

Twilight opened her eyes and groaned.  Spike sighed.  "Hey, I made you some breakfast.  Hay bacon Strips and Waffles."

Twilight didn't respond.

"C'mon Twi... you've gotta eat breakfast..."

"No I don't, Spike... I don't even know if I can bring myself to leave this tree..."

Spike rolled his eyes.  "Okay, so you made a bit of a foal of yourself in public.  Twilight, I'm sure everypony's already forgotten about that..."

"No, Spike... the sun came up today... that means..." Twilight felt her gut tighten as she was about to say something that hurt her deeply.  "... it means I was wrong about the Mare in the Moon..."

Spike quirked a brow.  "What?"

Twilight rose above her covers, staring at him with tired eyes.  "On the night of the Summer Sun Celebration, the Mare of the Moon, Nightmare Moon, was to return and herald eternal night.  The sun came up... which means.... it's just a legend..." Twilight flopped onto her bed.

Spike grinned nervously.  "But isn't that a good thing?"

Twilight groaned.  "Yes, Spike! But... I made a fool of myself... in front of the Council... in front of Ponyville... in front of Cadence... for nothing... allf or nothing.  I can't believe I was so stupid..."

Spike frowned, hopping up onto Twilight's bed and patting her leg.  "It's okay, Twi... I mean... we're all wrong sometimes.  I still don't like to sleep alone for fear the bogeymare will get me..."

Twilight huffed.  "At least you acknowledge it's a myth... you're just scared for primal, childhood fears, which is not your fault... I fully, truly believed the legend... I really thought... that yesterday was the last rising of the sun..."

The entire room seemed to fall into a deep silence that threatened to consume everything.  Spike found himself nervously twiddling his thumbs.

Then suddenly, Twilight chuckled.

Then giggled.

Then she broke into all out laughter.

Confused and more than a little scared, Spike laughed nervously with Twilight.

"Can you believe it?" she said.  "I believed some... some STORY about a myth no less silly than the bogey mare or zombies, and I made myself look... so... STUPID over it! All the researching, all the studying, none of it backed up by plausible facts, and I fell for it!" She looked to Spike, laughing still.  "Imagine! Me! Twilight Sparkle! Apprentice Unicorn arcanist, a cover pony for logic and reason, and I jumped head first into some sort of... superstitious mumbo jumbo!"

"Heheh... yeah... imagine..."

"And... and..." Twilight, still laughing, waved her hoof.  "I made an idiot of myself in front of the most important ponies in Canterlot, including my foalhood sitter! I was literally laughed out of the city by Blueblood, who'll probably never let me live this down if I ever have to bring something to Council again!" Twilight's laughter finally subsided, and she wiped a tear from her eye.  "Spike... for future references... remind me of this scenario if I ever begin to suspect crazy legends of being reality? I suspect that from now on I will make sure I have the evidence to back up my claims, but just in case..."

Spike nodded.  "So... are you ready for breakfast?"

Twilight hopped from her bed.  "Right... let's eat.  I think I'll stick around here for a few days... not sure I can bring myself to go back and face Cadence in Canterlot... I'm barely up to walking outside that door to face the ponies who watched me explode last night."

Spike chuckled.  "It's okay, Twilight... I'm sure everything'll be just fine..."

Twilight sighed a bit, looking out the window.  She thought about the previous night, about her argument with Cadence, about everything really.  'Maybe I do spend too much time reading my books.'  She stretched her legs a bit, eliciting a satisfying popping sound from a few key points, before getting ready to tackle the day ahead of her.

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"Keep on task, me hardies! The next supply ship to Canterlot can appear any moment!"

The sky was blue and beautiful this particular day, reflected in the vast sea beneath it.  A massive ship drifted along the field of water, its hull showing signs of use and yet still being strong.  Various ponies of all races, colors, and shapes toiled away, moving various pieces of equipment and weapons to places deemed necessary.  Standing at the helm was the captain; a grey pegasus mare with a black mane, wearing a ragged blue coat and a large, black hat with a pony skull and cross bones on it.

"Raise anchor, ready the sails, I can feel it in me bones! Somethin's a-comin', an' I'm quite certain it be big!"

A lone earth pony colt wearing a striped shirt and a bandana on his head looked towards his friend, a unicorn in similar attire, although his own head was missing a bandana to make room for his horn as he levitated ropes about.  "How does she always know these things? I've seen each of her predictions come true, but I never understood it!"

"She calls it her 'Seagrave Sense."  said the Unicorn.  "I don't get it either, but she always seems to know when something’s coming.  When there's lots of gold, her tail twitches and her left hoof shakes.  When there are weapons, her stomach tightens and her ears flop.  When there's booze, she starts blinking a lot."

"What happened this time?" asked the curious colt.

"She doesn't know.  It was the strangest sight; her body inflated, she belched, flatulated, said some sort of random swear (though that might have been in sheer shock of her reaction) spun around, then head butted the nearest crewmate.  She says whatever it is, it's massive."

The colt nodded.

"Arrr! Ye be bickering, but I not be seein' ye do much shipwork! Stop bein' such scallywags lest ye walk the plank!"

The two quickly returned to their work, rigorously keeping at pace.  Eventually, pleased, the captain turned about and trotted away.

"What if one of us was a pegasus?"

"She ties your wings together."

"Wow... that's brutal."

Seagrave observed all of his crew, hard at work and ready for plunder.  It did her heart good to know that all of these ponies (and the donkey that cooked their meals) were ready and willing to do everything she demanded of them.  There was something of a brotherhood among them; sure, they might cheat and lie to one another, but never would they downright betray a crewmate or their captain.

Not that she wouldn't kill each and every one of them if she had to, though.

It was an understanding among her crew; you were part of the brotherhood as long as you played your part, took only your fair share, and never, EVER do anything to displease the captain.  If you did these things, well, you had a family who would die for you.

"Wait a minute..."

The Captain stopped as she noticed something.  A gradual change in the surrounding waters... the wind grew still, as did the waves.  The sky was suddenly less blue, with more clouds building about, and a strange, blue fog seemed to slowly settle in.  Within minutes, much of their vision beyond the ship was obscured by the eldritch blue clouds, and the silence was more than enough to set Captain Seagrave on edge.

"... What manner of sorcery be this...?"

The crew stopped the tasks at hand and looked about, everypony suddenly on edge.

I need a vessel... and an army....

"Wh... who speaks!?"

Your presence is convenient....

"Come out, lest ye be executed!" Seagraves was not sure, but she was certain that the voice was coming from... all around? Maybe from inside her head?

But I am not hidden from you at all...

"Wha...?"

Behind you...

Seagraves turned around slowly, her eyes settling upon a sight that nearly took her breath away.  A figure, taller than any pony she had ever seen before; wearing ragged, tattered robes that covered its entire form, the hood shaded out, blocking out any and all visual.  From beneath it, strange blue energy seemed to burn from within the darkness in the shape of eyes.  Blue clouds seemed to pool around the hooves of the being that stood upon them.

"Wh.... who.... be ye..."

The one, true queen.

Nightmare Moon.

TO BE CONTINUED...