Adventures of the Equestrian Seas

Applejack sat at her Apple Stand, staring out at all the ponies milling about the Market Place.  It was a slow day; slower than she'd like it, anyway.  She had, admittedly, hoped that with all the food they had provided for the Summer Sun Celebration that their business would have gone up; of course, all good things in time.  Hopefully, if nothing else, they might hear back from one of the Council ponies; business from one of them would certainly draw a lot of attention to the Apple Family.

Just then, she saw a familiar face; Twilight Sparkle, who trotted up to her stand.  "Good mornin', sugarcube! What can Ah do fer ya?"

Twilight smiled.  "I'll have one Apple Fritter, please?"

Applejack nodded and reached into the underside of the cart, pulling out a single fritter and handing it to Twilight.  "Say, sugarcube, what was with all that yellin' between you n' Cadence last night?"

Twilight blushed.  "You saw that, huh?"

Applejack smirked.  "Well, Ah reckon most'a Ponyville n' the Apple Islands saw, or at least heard.  Y'all weren’t bein' very quiet."

Twilight sighed and shook her head.  "It's... complicated... and more than a little embarrassing..." The unicorn placed a hoof behind her head and rubbed it, clearly uncomfortable.  "I'd really rather not talk about it."

Applejack nodded.  "Ah understand, darlin'.  If'n ya ever need t' talk, ya've always got an ear with me."

Twilight quirked a brow at the farm pony.  "Huh? But... I barely know you."

Applejack let out a laugh.  "Well, that maybe true, but Ah already feel like yer family! Y'all were fairly pleasant t' be around when ya came t' the farm - forgivin' yer penchant t' vomitin' - an' yer far more pleasant than Ah expected! No offense, but word on th' street is that most ponies from Canterlot can be a bit stuck up."

Twilight chuckled nervously, not really knowing how to respond to that.  Still, she was sure Applejack meant well, so she decided to accept the compliment.  "Thanks... well, I'd better be going.  I've got some research to do."

"Oh, 'course!" said Applejack, "Ah won't hold ya up.  If'n ya need me, y'all can usually find me here or back at th' farm!"

Twilight nodded and smiled, turning about and trotting off to her devices.  She was going to be stuck in Ponyville for another two days; a fact she didn't entirely lament, if for the mere fact she was not sure she was ready to face the ocean again so soon, let alone Cadence.  She grimaced at this thought; she would HAVE to meet her again, rather she wanted to or not.

"Hey, Twilight! Twilight!" Twilight's attention shifted to the sound of Spike's voice, the baby dragon rushing up to her, holding a scroll in his claws, and stopping just short of her, panting and heaving.  "You.... got a letter..... from Professor Comet..."

Twilight took the scroll in her magical grasp and relieved it from Spike, unrolling and reading it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I've reviewed the notes you've sent me, and after a great deal of research I have found the data to be inconclusive.  While many ancient tales mention the celestial princesses and their many foes, and even the sinking of Equestria, we have no surviving records to back up your claims.  With the lack of eternal night, it might seem that your claims are groundless.

One thing I don't know if you knew is that the Everfree Waters are plagued by a chaotic nature; storms, whirlpools, small hurricanes... these sorts of things happen a lot there without any warning.  More of late, however, the Apple Islands had been getting hit by more stray rain than they were used to.  This does not alarm the residents; being so near the Everfree Waters, this is semi-expected.  Nopony seems to have realized it's happening in greater frequency, or at least nopony who feels inclined to point it out.

Last night, one of our own spotted a strange storm somewhere in the direction of the islands; you may or may not have noticed it yourself.  Between Canterlot and the Apple Islands, a blue fog settled over the sea, and vanished as fast as it appeared.  We called in some favors to send a few pegasai to check it out, but they found nothing at all.

Furthermore, we have noticed that the shadow of the moon, often referred to as the 'mare in the moon' by tales, has been unusually absent.  While some of my colleagues claim this is just a common lunar development, I find it odd because from what I understand (I had looked at it with my own two eyes), it had been present at some point before Midnight of the Summer Sun Celebration.

I wish you to continue go about your business, but keep an open eye, and an open mind.  If anything out of the ordinary happens, especially in the vicinity of the Everfree Waters, I want you to inform me as soon as you are able.

Your mentor,

Professor Comet Tail

Twilight stared at the note, wide-eyed and more than a little confused.  Was she right? Was she wrong? Is her mentor over thinking this just as much as she was? Is she over thinking it right now? She looked up to Spike, who stared at her questioningly.

"Well? What did he say?"

Twilight let her gaze fall back to the letter, reading it over once more.

"Spike, fetch every book in the library with details of the Elements of Harmony, the Mare in the Moon, and the Celestial Sisters.  Research information, theories, and even foals' bedtime stories.  If it contains any of those facts, I want it ready for me to take it apart and find facets of truth wherever I can."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie bounced down the street with a box placed on her back that bounced with her.  She was humming an upbeat tune, her optimism shining brightly as she made her way towards the tree-library - and her journey came to an abrupt end when she bumped into Rarity.

"Hm? Oh, hi Rarity!"

Rarity quirked a brow.  "Oh, hello Pinkie Pie.  What are you doing here?"

Pinkie giggle snorted.  "Well what's it look like, silly? I saw Twilight get super duper upset last night, and she ran away crying and I thought 'Hey! Nopony as nice as Twilight should be so sad!' Then I thought 'I bet a few cupcakes might make her feel better!' But then I wasn't sure if she liked cupcakes, because the mailmare prefers muffins, and one time I gave her a cupcake by accident (silly me!) and she looked at me like I was crazy! Well, I think she was looking at me, she could have also been looking at the sad clown painting that Mrs. Cake hung on the wall! Mr. Cake told her it wasn't--"

"PINKIE."

Pinkie stopped.  "Yeah?"

"To the point, dear?"

"Oh! Well, I wanted to cheer Twilight up, so I baked her three cupcakes and three muffins! Then I came here to give them to her, and bounced into you, so here we are!"

Rarity stared at Pinkie a few moments to process this.

"Why are YOU here?" said the Pink Pony, smiling brightly.

"Well, if you must know, I too saw the little... 'faux pas' as it were at the celebration, and I was going to invite Twilight Sparkle to the spa to relax her nerves."

Pinkie nodded her head, a rattle seemingly emanating from the confines of her skull.  "That sounds great Rarity! Why, I'll bet she'll really appreciate-Oh! What's that!?" Pinkie pointed her hoof, accidentally jabbing Rarity in the face.

Rarity turned, rubbing her cheek, to see Fluttershy trotting towards them, she stopped just short of them, seeming to shy behind her mane.  "Oh, uhm, did I interrupt something?"

Rarity shook her head.  "Not that we're aware of.  Were you here to cheer her up as well?"

Fluttershy blinked.  "Well, uh, no, I mean, I'd be glad to help but, I'm here because last night all my critters got scared of something and ran, flew, and swam away... I was hoping to get some help calming them down.  The fish should come back on their own, but the little birdies and ground animals may end up in other ponies' crops and food stores..."

Rarity hummed, tapping her hoof to her chin.  "Well, Fluttershy, I'd be more than happy to help you relocate them when I have the free time... have you asked Rainbow Dash to help?"

Fluttershy nodded.  "She looked extremely tired today... last night, all the weather ponies had an emergency to take care of some hurricanes and storms that seemed to pop out of nowhere, and then she had to go out a bit further... something about owing somepony a favor... she said there was fog there that disappeared really quickly."

Pinkie hummed now, tapping her own hoof to her own chin.  Rarity gave a sideways glance to the pink mare and rolled her eyes.  "You're really imitating me now?"

Pinkie giggled.  "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Watch!" Throwing her hooves around her face at speeds that nopony could follow, Pinkie's mane was reshaped into Rarity's own styling.  "Oh dahling, this humidity is just DREADFUL! Why, if I don't get somewhere cool, or at the very least get a glass of water, I might just FAINT!"

Rarity blinked a few times.  She wanted to be mad, she really did.  Instead, she let out a little giggle, shaking her head.  "P-Pinkie! That's so rude!"

Pinkie huffed.  "Well, I never!"  Then, almost in an instant, her mask broke and she burst into a fit of giggle-snorts, her mane poofing back to it's original shape.

Rarity sighed a bit, wiping a tear from her eye.  Deciding not to delay any further, she brought a hoof to the door and knocked.

*Knock knock knock*

"Coming!"

The door slowly opened to reveal the little purple dragon, who looked up to Rarity, and immediately he slumped a bit, a big stupid grin on his face.  "Oh, hehe, hi Rarity! How are you?"

Rarity smiled a bit to the little dragon.  "Hello... Spike, was it? Yes, I was hoping to speak to Twilight Sparkle, if it wouldn't be too much trouble?"

Pinkie popped her head up.  "I baked her some muffins n' cupcakes!"

Fluttershy leaned in.  "Uhm, have you seen any squirrels? Bunnies? Chickens? Any little critters?"

Spike turned about.  "TWI-AHH!"

Twilight, to his surprise, was already there.  "Oh, uhh.. hello.  Can I help you girls?"

Rarity grinned.  "Well, darling, I just wanted you to know that I had heard of your little... situation last night, and wanted to take you to the spa! My treat!"

"I baked you goodies?"

"Any birds around here? Chipmunks?"

Twilight quirked a brow, her apparent confusion growing.  "Uhh... I... huh?"

Just then, a loud crash diverted everypony's attention upward to the balcony, where Rainbow Dash pried herself from a prison of broken wood and glass (while remaining amazingly unscathed herself).  "Hey, Twilight, the weather has been acting REALLY weird lately, and my team can't keep up.  I was hoping you had a book or something on weather disasters or something, because none of us have ever seen weather like this, even from the Everfree waters!"

Twilight grimaced.  "Girls, girls, give me a minute to gather my thoughts--"

"Howdy!"

Everypony turned to see Applejack approaching, a smile on the orange mare's face.  Twilight sighed.  "Let me guess... you either came here to give me an apple pie to make me feel better about what happened last night, or you were going to ask me about some sort of strange happening down at the apple farm?"

Applejack donned the expression one wore when asked what color the sky was.  "Uhh... no, Ah was just gonna say hi... Ah figure y'all got yer life under control, n' things are just peachy at th' farm."

Twilight had to admit there was a mixed sense of relief and embarrassment, so she shrugged it off.

"Okay, first off... Pinkie, thank you for the baked goods..." Twilight forced a smile, and levitated them over to Spike, who took the box inside.  "I'm really thankful and appreciative of the kindness... and Rarity? Um... I don't really have the time to go to a spa treatment today, and I really have no idea how much longer I'll be here... Fluttershy, I don't think I've seen any of your animal friends, and I can't really help you because I'm kind of busy, but if you want you can peruse the library for books that might help you find them... Rainbow, I know I've heard of winds creating hurricanes and such, but usually those are pretty static and weather pegasai can predict them quickly and evacuate... and Applejack... hi."

Twilight sighed again, feeling she had covered everything.

"But Twilight" started Rainbow Dash, "These aren’t STATIC hurricanes.  Last night, there was a massive influx of waves, a few  hurricanes that seemed to pop up out of nowhere, and it took entire teams of weather pegasai just to stop them; we have a few injured, and we're not certain where they came from."

Twilight grimaced.  "You said they popped up out of nowhere, did you really have to add you had no idea where they came from? Isn't that sort of redundant?"

Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight for a few seconds, before giving her a bit of a glare.  "Did you just imply I'm mentally challenged?"

Twilight balked.  "I said redundant! Not- look, Fluttershy, Rainbow, I really have no idea how to help you.  Rarity, Pinkie, thanks again for your kindness, I wish I could do more.  Applejack... keep on doing what you do.  Girls, I have really important business to get to, and-"

Just then, there was a popping noise.

Followed by an explosion, and the distant sound of screams.

Everypony leaped a little (save for Pinkie Pie, who jumped several feet into the air, seemingly froze halfway  up screaming, and fell back in Rainbow Dash's hooves, who unceremoniously dumped her onto the ground).

"Oh my word!" shouted Rarity.  "That... that came from the other side of the town!"

"Hold onto your tails, I'm off!" shouted Rainbow Dash, who took off bolting.

"Hold up you uncouth cyclops! I'm coming too!" shouted Rarity, who took off treading after Rainbow.

"Hey, y'all ponies are crazy runnin' to th' loud noises!" Applejack stood there, looked around, groaned, and then took chase.

"Oh my goodness, I hope everypony's alright! Wait for me!" shouted Fluttershy, who flew off, though at a much more reserved pace than Rainbow.

Twilight turned to look at Pinkie Pie, who looked back.  "What?" said the mare.  "I'm crazy but I'm not that crazy."

Twilight arched an eyebrow.  "You're not?"

Pinkie stared at her for a second.  Then she gasped.  "WAITAMINUTEOFCOURSEIAMWAITFORMEGIRLS!" With that, she bolted.

Twilight didn't want to follow.  She really didn't.  However, she was worried; after all, Cadence was probably still on the island, not to mention it would be bad publicity if a student of the Unicorn Academy and Liaison for Canterlot stayed behind while locals ran off into danger.  With a sigh of acceptance, Twilight took off, following the nutty locals into danger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Capture every unicorn on the island, me harties! If it casts a spell, it goes in a cell!"

The pegasus mare in a pirate's coat, wearing a tricorn cap with a pony skull with crossbones shouted to several ponies as they rushed around the boat.  "When we get to land, that's the first order of business, as per her majesty's orders! Don't kill anypony you don't have to; after all, a queen's rule means nothing if her subjects are dead!"

Cannons on the side of the ship cracked like thunder as they launched orbs at the island that crashed into homes and tore down whole buildings.  Ponies ran screaming in a panic as the ship raised it's flag; a dark blue flag with a splashy black splotch, in the center of which was a depiction of a quarter moon.

As the ship docked, several ropes fell over the ledge, earth ponies and unicorns sliding down said ropes as Pegasai flew overboard and began to harass the locals.  Ponies fled, panicked, and tried to hide, as the crew knocked aside and fought ponies, seeming to seek out particular targets.

"What in tarnation!?" shouted Applejack as the group arrived at sight.  Rainbow Dash looked around.  "Pirates!? Attacking the docks!? Where's the anti-pirate defenses!?"

Twilight looked out to sea and grimaced.  "I assume you mean those?"  She pointed her hoof, and Rainbow Dash looked to see three ships, with plumes of smoke drifting from them; their sails were torn and burned, far as she could tell, and one of them looked as though it might be in the process of sinking.

"None of those are the counsel ships... please tell me Cadence got off the island..." said Twilight under her breath.

"Unicorns!"

Everypony turned to see three pirates running towards them, swords raised.  "Hand over the unicorns peacefully, an' nopony has t' get chopped up!"

Rarity immediately bit her lip; the only pony here she was actually on friendly terms with was Fluttershy.  Surely she would--

"Yeah right, punk!" shouted Rainbow Dash, as she slammed one hoof into another.  "Touch either of them and you'll have your peg-leg shoved where the sun don't shine!"

"What?" said the pirate, quirking his brow.  The three looked at each other, making sure to examine one anothers' legs - none of which were pegged.  In fact, as far as pirates go, they were unusually whole  "But we don't have peg legs!"

Rainbow blinked and grimaced.  "Wha-no, it's a figure of speech! It's just... you know, because a common pirate.... ugh, just back off or we'll kick your flanks!"

"No no no, we have to sort this out."  said the Pirate.  "Just cause we're pirates does not mean we got peg legs, parrots, scurvy, or other kinds of diseases! I mean, why do ponies think that of us!"

Rainbow blinked.  "... Well, you go from port to port, what should ponies think."

"Hold on!" interrupted Applejack.  "Are we REALLY havin' a debate of prejudice with PIRATES here?"

"Good point, AJ..." said Rainbow.  "So, we fighting or you gonna turn tail and run.  It's six-to-three, so I'd say we have numbers to our advantage!"

Suddenly, several more pirates joined the group, surrounding the six mares.  "Uhhh..." Rainbow looked around.  ".... four.... six.... uh...."

Twilight gave a deadpan expression.  "Twenty three.  There's twenty three pirates, Rainbow Dash."

"I knew that."

Fluttershy whimpered and backed as close to the middle of the six as she could.  Rarity tried to look bold, but was clearly afraid.  Twilight herself gulped, looking up at her horn and then back to the pirates.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash, however, had their game faces on.

"We ready to rock!?" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"Let's get this hootenanny goin'!" shouted Applejack.

Immediately, the two ponies bolted forward, Rainbow tackling an earth pony, lifting him upward some, then letting him go, sailing into a building that had been blown apart and crashing into the debris.  Applejack approached a small group, turned and bucked one that flew several feet backwards.  As two more approached her, she threw a hoof in a punch, socking one of the assailants in the face, and then delivered a kick with one hind leg to knock the other behind her out.

Rarity shifted to see several ponies leap at her.  Suddenly, her expression went from fearful to angry, and she stood up on her hind legs and delivered one swift, powerful slap with her hoof, striking all three of them.  "How DARE you attack my home!" she shouted.  The three ponies stared at her confused as she moved suddenly, leaping upward and spinning a hoof, knocking one aside, doing a back flip and striking a second one on the chin, throwing him backwards, and once she landed, she stared at the final one whose jaw dropped.  The stallion then dropped his sword and fled.

"Whoa! I didn't know ya had it in ya, Rarity!" shouted Rainbow Dash, to which Rarity responded with a satisfied grin and a hint of a blush.  Just then, Rarity gasped.

"Fluttershy, watch out!"

Rainbow turned to see Fluttershy being snuck upon by two pegasai and an earth pony.  Rainbow Dash's eye burned with rage as she charged down and lifted the earth pony up, speeding upward into the air.  The two pegasai, shocked, turned to see their companion gone, then looked up just in time for one of them to see him falling his way and land on top of him, both breaking his fall and rendering both of them unconscious (or at the very least too sore to continue fighting.)  Fluttershy turned around to see the last one and screamed, catching his attention.  He quickly leaped at her, to which Fluttershy held a hoof up in her defense and turned away, closing her eyes as tight as she could.

His face planted directly into her tender yellow hoof.

The timid mare opened an eye to see the pegasus stallion laying on the floor with a bloodied nose.  "Oh! Oh my, I-I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean to--"

"Don't apologize!" shouted Rainbow Dash.  "He was going to attack you, he got what he deserved!"

Fluttershy bit her lip and looked at the pirate.  She leaned down and whispers between all three of them.  "L-look, I-I-I don't agree with what you're d-doing, b-but I'm sure you d-d-didn't mean to be so mean, and that you b-became pirates just because you had no other choices... so I ffforgive you..."

Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy, slack jawed, who looked back up at her and responded with a nervous smile.  Rainbow rolled her eye.  "Fluttershy... sometimes I swear you're too kind for your own good..."

"Oh, I don't know about-"

"PARTY HARD!"

Everypony turned to see several of the pirate ponies on top of a pile.  Suddenly, in a burst that launched them all back, Pinkie leapt into the air.  "YEEEEEEAH!" She seemed to produce a party cannon from nowhere, and taking aim, began belting several of the pirates with compressed confetti, knocking them back.  "You wanna play with the premier pink party pony of Ponyville, you gotta DANCE!"  She lifted the cannon and literally tossed it, watching as it careened into several ponies.  She then produced a mallet from her mane (how it fit there nopony would learn) and began to strike several ponies with it, giggling joyfully - the most unsettling part being that she seemed more like she was playing a game rather than she was actually fighting.

"Get the purple one!"

Twilight turned to see several more ponies approaching her.  They all leaped at her, causing her to gasp.  Squeezing her eyes shut, her horn glowed magenta, and suddenly, all of them froze mid-air.  Twilight opened her eyes to see them floating helplessly before her, and grinned.  "You know..." she began, "... I was trained at the Magic Academy of Unicorn Island... I lived there for several years, getting personal training from some of the best teachers in the Equestrian Sea... " She trotted towards the closest stallion and got her face really close to his, staring him directly in the eyes (though he was presently upside down.)  "I can break each and every one of you with a thought."

The sound of one of the stallion sobbing made her smile.

"Fortunately, I don't do that!"

With that, she tossed each and every one of the pirates in separate directions, some of them colliding with buildings, one striking an already damaged cart, and few simply skidding and rolling across the ground.

Twilight turned to see everypony staring at her.  ".... What?"

Rainbow's eye twitched.  "Remind me never to tick you off, Twilight..."

Twilight blushed and nodded, then turned to the ship.  Her expression shifted to one of confusion as the ship seemed to emit a strange, blue fog that began to cover the island.  The clouds seemed to block out the sun, as if producing an artificial night.

And Twilight felt a deep coldness, a sense of dread and fear.  She turned around to notice that the ponies she was helping were gone.  "Applejack?" she shouted.  "Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy? Rarity!? Pinkie!?"

Twilight stumbled around, trying to make heads or tails of what was going on, before bumping into something.  She stopped and turned to behold a robed figure.  She fell to her haunches, her mouth agape as a pair of turquoise orbs stared down at her.

"Child... you are strong..."

"Wh.... who are you..." Twilight barely managed to whisper.

"... I am the true ruler of this kingdom..."

Suddenly, Twilight felt an aura wrap around her and lift her up.  She was powerless; so frightened by the darkness that seemed to violate her very soul.  "... and you... could be a problem..."

"Twilight! WAKE UP!"

Twilight blinked and shook her head.  Suddenly, the mare was gone.  She was in somewhere - Sweet Apple Acres? Surrounding her were the five locals and Spike.  They were in the barn, far as she could tell.

"Wh... what? What!?" she shouted, bolting up.  "What happened!? We were just at the docks, and--"

"And.." started Applejack, "this weird blue fog enveloped th' place.  You n' Rarity stared inta space fer a bit before ya fainted.  We heard screamin' and cryin', so we gathered ya up an' beat a hasty retreat t' th' farm!"

Twilight blinked, placing a hoof to her head.  "It... it was a dream..." she looked to Rarity.  "You... you woke up before me?"

Rarity nodded.  "Yes, I... I woke up while we were running... " she stared at Twilight, a haunted expression on her face.  "Twilight... w.... were you suddenly alone? Trapped in a void unable to see anything?"

Twilight grimaced.  "Y... did you see her too?"

"See who, dear?"

"... You didn't hear her voice? The 'True Ruler?"

Rarity shook her head.  "N-no... I was just.... all alone..."

Twilight stared at Rarity a few seconds.  Why hadn't Rarity seen it? Why had... whatever it was, chosen to show itself to her, but not Rarity? Was there more to it than she knew?

Should she be afraid?

Was it bad that she was?

"N... nevermind.... " said Twilight.  "... I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Twilight, without much further warning, threw up.

"... Ah'll get the mop..."

To Be Continued...