In Which Ponies Go Sailing
Prologue: Gathering the Troops
"Okay, so..." Sunset says, pacing the room. "Let me get this straight."
Twilight, sitting in an armchair, steeples her fingers, watching the orange mare intensely.
"Your Harmony powers were... Taken from you."
Twilight nods.
"Something just came along and... what, punched you in the face or something? And you just... Lost them? Poof, gone?"
Another nod.
"And now you need me and two other mares who nearly defeated you to come along with you on a boat-"
"Multiple boats." Twilight says, giving Sunset a look.
"Multiple boats." Sunset concedes. "You need me and two other mares who nearly defeated you to come along with you on multiple boats to get them back."
Twilight nods. Sunset stops pacing and gives her a look.
"Well... I've got nothing better to do. I'm done with human high school, and human college looks like a load of shit. Why not?"
Twilight raises an eyebrow, shrugging.
"Give me a day to get my stuff packed, arrange for my cat to come with me, and we'll be good to go. See you then, Twilight."
The two girls shake hands. Hefting her diary, Sunset reassures Twilight that 'We'll keep in touch.' before the princess leaves, headed back to the Mirror.
"Twilight..." Starlight says calmly, popping a doughnut into her mouth and chewing on it, giving Twilight a look. "You know as well as I do that my life belongs to you. Why are you even asking?"
Twilight places a hand to her head, her fingers pinching at the base of her horn.
"Starlight... Your life does not belong to me. Please, stop saying that. It makes me sound like some demented slave owner."
With a nod, Starlight takes another bite of her doughnut.
"Still." she mumbles around the food in her mouth. "Why are you even asking? You know what I'll say."
"Because you're your own pony. And that means asking consent before I take you on long, dangerous adventures."
With a nod, Starlight finishes her doughnut, giving Twilight a smile.
"Of course I'll go. It's not like I've got any friends other than you..."
"Hey." Twilight says, giving Starlight a reassuring smile, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Like I said; in order for you to be 'redeemed' in the eyes of your peers, you've either got to wait a couple years or save the world. And this is going to help."
"How long did you say were going to be gone for, anyway?"
Twilight falls silent. A bead of sweat appears on her brow.
"Well... Let's just say that if you don't save the world while we're out... By the time we get back, you'll be redeemed anyway."
Starlight stares at Twilight, her face blank.
"Still going." she says, picking up another doughnut. "Gotta work these calories off somehow, eh?"
"You're lying to both of them." Trixie says, giving Twilight a look.
"I know." The alicorn says, sniffling. "I'm a dirty, filthy liar and it's the worst."
Trixie wraps an arm around Twilight, pulling her into a hug.
"It's okay, Twilight Sparkle." she says softly. "I believe this will be a fun, exciting journey! Exploring new lands! Having adventures! Meeting new civilizations! Making friends - and vanquishing foes - every step of the way! It's everything I've ever dreamed of, all in one huge, ocean-sized package!"
Twilight sighs, nuzzling into Trixie as she nods.
"It'll be great." she says softly. "Just as long as we're well away from Equestria before they find out."
Trixie chuckles, relaxing in the chair as the two sit for a while, simply hugging.
"They're just as smart as me - and, by extension - you... They're going to find out soon, unless you've managed to get rid of that tell you have."
"I do not have a tell!"
"Twilight Sparkle, you have the biggest tell ever. Whenever you lie, you repeat the last word of your sentence. It's pretty cute."
"I do not! Not."
Trixie giggles, nuzzling Twilight closer.
"Oh, she was totally lying." Sunset says, giving Fluttershy a wry smile. "Dunno what she was actually getting at, but whatever it was, it was important enough for her to come out here and ask me to join her."
"But do you really have to go?" Fluttershy whispers, holding Sunset's cat - a small, dark-blue tom named Sparkle - snugly in her arms.
"With all the stuff that's happened here?" Sunset says, raising an eyebrow. "You, and me, and the Dazzlings, and that whole thing with the stuff in the place with all our friends? It'll be good to get away from it all, even if it is for, like, a couple years."
Fluttershy nods, a single tear running down her cheek. Sunset wipes it away tenderly, giving Fluttershy a calm smile.
"Look." she says softly, taking a book out of her backpack. "Take this. I'll be in Equestria, so I'll have Twilight's copy; we can talk to each other."
With a nod, Fluttershy steps back, and Sparkle hops eagerly into Sunset's arms. With a jovial wave, she steps through the portal.
The first thing she notices is that Sparkle is gone. In his place stands a bat-pony, just taller than her, wings spread and dark-blue fur barely visible in the low light of the room.
The second is a strange sensation on her back. Something was straining against her shirt...
"Hello, Sunset." Sparkle says, giving the mare a smile. "It is good to finally talk to you. First thing to say, um... I think you've noticed by now, but... I'm not a guy."
Sunset ignores the bat-mare, feeling at her back... Finally, with a grunt of frustration, she tears the back of the shirt with her magic, letting her two orange wings spread to their fullest-
Wings.
Orange wings.
"Sunset?" Sparkle calls, head cocked. "Is something wrong?"
"What." Sunset says, staring at her wings.
"Sunset? If something's wrong, I can get help."
"The."
"I'll go get help." Sparkle says, dashing from the room. A second later, she returns, an embarrased look on her face.
"Um..." she says. "Where are we?"
Sunset looks Sparkle dead in the eye, letting her wings fold up against her back.
"Shit."
'Totally lying.' Starlight says to herself as she approaches the castle. 'Every single word of it. the question is: Why?'
The doors open for her, and Starlight waves jovially at Spike, who returns the wave and the smile. Entering, Starlight sees Twilight, a light-blue mare - that must be Trixie, and a dark-blue bat pony.
"Hello." she says, dropping into a small curtsy. "You must be Trixie and Sunset. I'm very happy to meet you."
"'Snot me!" a voice calls. "That's Sparkle! I'm in the back cutting fucking wing-holes into all my shirts 'cause I didn't know I was an alicorn!"
"I offered her mine," the bat-pony says calmly. "But her eyes widened, and she said 'Oh dear sweet human Jesus no.' Which I took to mean she didn't want it."
Starlight cocks her head. "I thought you said Sunset was a unicorn."
"She was." Twilight says, a hand to her temples. "Apparently, in the human world, she stopped a girl who'd taken control of a large magical power source and ascended to a being of darkness. Sunset transformed as well and brought her down."
"And thus the circle was complete, balance restored to The Force, yadda yadda. Stopping demons and gaining wings go hand-in-hand, apparently." An orange mare who was ostensibly Sunset Shimmer says, striding into the room, a pair of scissors clutched in her hand. "Thanks for lending me the scissors, Trixie."
"No problem at all." the cyan mare says, taking the things and placing them gently into her hat, which she dons with a smile. "You must be Starlight Glimmer." she says. "I am the Great Trixie Lulamoon; traveling showmare and professional show-off."
Starlight raises an eyebrow.
"It's part of who I am." Trixie says. "I've made my peace with it."
"I'm Sunset Shimmer." the orange mare says, shaking Starlight's hand with a wry smile. "So you're the time-traveler, huh? I've always had a thing for space magic myself, but time's pretty cool."
Twilight smiles, gathering all four mares into a hug, her wings encircling them.
"I'm so glad you came." she says. "With you four by my side, I'll get my powers back for sure."
Sunset breaks out into a laugh, giving Twilight a look.
"That was a load of bullshit and you know it." she says, chuckling. "Spill it; what's the real reason we're here?"
"I also exist!" an offended-sounding voice calls. The mares turn to see the bat-pony, standing there with her arms folded. "My name is Sparkle and I used to be a cat! I used to be a cat with no idea horse-people were a thing, and I'm pretty frucking overwhelmed right now and would appreciate some sympathy please!"
Twilight immediately moves to wrap the bat-pony in a hug, while the other three simply watch.
"'Frucking?'" Sunset says, giggling. "That's adorable."
"I am angry!" Sparkle calls, huffing from the inside of the hug.
"You're adorable!"
"I am the darkness in the night!"
"The adorable darkness in the adorable night!"
"Shut the fack up!"
"You're trying to curse but it's just too adorable to take seriously!"
Trixie sighs, raising an eyebrow.
"This is going to be a fun trip." she says, giving Starlight a look.
Author's Note
New story! Sweet! This one's meant to be a light-hearted adventure. Don't worry; there will still be some good stuff in there - story, sex, maybe both - but it's mainly just an experiment for me. I hope you enjoy it, cause I sure will.
If you want, leave suggestions in the comments! I may or may not do stuff with them! I dunno! This is new for me!