KRA-CRASH!

Twilight and Spike gasped, as the sound of a bunch of trinkets falling off the shelves shocked them. The two looked to see Sunburst glaring from within a bunch of them!

"Sunburst!" Twilight gulped, as the crab began freeing himself, throwing the trinkets this way and that.

"TWILIGHT! What are you...? How could you...? What in the name of the Sun is all this?!" he asked, still wrapped up in thread with a fishhook clutched in his claw.

"It's, um, just my collection," Twilight said, sheepishly.

Sunburst chuckled, nodding and rotating the the fish hook. "Oh, right. Of course, I see. Your collection, hm?" There was a pause, before the court composer began pulling the thread off of him and throwing the fish hook in a rage. "IF YOUR MOTHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE!!!"

"You're not gonna say anything to her, are you?" Spike asked, shooting a slight glare at the crab. The purple fish may have been a bit timid, but when it came to Twilight, he became a shark.

"Please, Sunburst. She'll never understand," Twilight pleaded desperately to the crab. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to find this place.

"Twilight. Twilight. You're clearly under a lot of pressure down here, I get that. Come on. Let's head back home and get you something hot to drink," Sunburst said with a smile, taking the lavender mermare's hoof into his claw as he began leading her away.

Just then, a muffled thud resonated above the water. Twilight turned her head up in confusion, as she saw a large dark shape obscure the moonlight for a few seconds. Her eyes widened, as she pulled away from Sunburst and swam toward the light, almost in a trance.

"What do you suppose...?" she asked more to herself than her friends, as she slowly ascended toward the surface. She saw the same dark shape slowly moving below the waves, which she recognized as the bottom of one of the surface pony ships.

"Twilight? Twilight?!" Sunburst called to the ever retreating mermare, as he and Spike swam after her.

Breaching the surface, Twilight was assaulted with bright, flashing lights and thunderous sounds. Her eyes adjusted, as she saw a large, three-mast ship moving ever so slowly across the surface of the water, shooting off brightly colored fireworks. Giggling, Twilight simply stared in delight at the surface pony ship. She'd seen many below the waves, after they'd long been wrecked, but seeing one intact with the sails unfurled, was truly a sight.

Spike and Sunburst breached on either side of her a moment later, but Twilight paid them no mind.

"Twilight, what are you...?" Sunburst started, before one of the flashes from the fireworks alerted his attention. He turned and gasped at the sight. "Sweet Sunfish! It can't be!"

Without a moment of hesitation more, Twilight dove back under the waves and swam straight for the large ship! Spike followed beneath the waves, as Sunburst simply tread water, calling back to the Merpony Princess.

"TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT! Please, come back!" he yelled, but Twilight did not heed his calls, getting closer and closer to the ship. Finally, she was right below it, and could see that it was lit by many brightly colored lanterns, giving the upper deck a golden glow. Slowing down her flipping tail, the Little Mermare could hear laughter and music from the top of the deck and used her magic to slowly pull herself up the side until she could see from an opening on the side. And what a sight she did see!

The sailors played various instruments, many Twilight did not know the name of which only intrigued her further. The ponies were all clearly merrymaking, and she smiled in delight at the festive nature, her head turning this way and that to take it all in. Suddenly, she saw a small, green scaly creature waddle across the deck. His elongated snout, that reminded Twilight of a dolphin, was bumpy and his large eyes that sat squarely on the top of his head were purple, almost a similar purple to her mane. The ponies all laughed, playfully dancing around the green little creature, who simply flicked his long pointed tongue along his snout. Then, one of his purple eyes turned to Twilight.

Making a vibrating noise from his throat, the little creature waddled to the opening on the side of the ship. Twilight gasped, attempting to obscure herself in the darkness of the side of the ship and hoping the little green creature would move away. Slowly poking her head back out, Twilight came snout to snout with the little creature. She gulped, worried at what he would do, before his long pointed tongue simply shot out and landed right between Twilight's eyes, below the base of her horn. Twilight giggled at the feeling, before a high-pitched voice called out.

"Gummy! Here, Gummy!"

The little green creature, Gummy, blinked his eyes one at a time, before bounding toward the pony who'd called, making small squeaking and vibrating sounds at them. Touching the spot where Gummy's tongue had hit, with a small smile, Twilight moved back toward the opening on the side of the ship. That is when she saw her.

"Come on, you silly gator! What are you doing, Gummy? Huh? Hehe!" Twilight gasped at the sight of the pony that Gummy had started playfully gnawing on.

Her coat was a beautiful, bright pink which almost seemed to glow in the light of the lanterns. Her big blue eyes shone with mirth and laughter, and her curly mane was of a darker pink, but it seemed to bounce around on top of the ponies head like it had a life of it's own. She was dressed in a puffy white shirt, a red sash, and grey trousers. Twilight was in awe at the mare she beheld, and a feeling unlike anything she'd felt before began to well up inside of her. With a small smile and her eyes shining, she simply watched as Gummy and the pink pony began to dance around, the pony herself beginning to blow into a long slender instrument.

"HEY KIDDO!"

The bliss was momentarily broken by the sudden arrival of Cheese, who flapped close to Twilight with a chuckle. "Quite a show, eh? I tell ya, these surface ponies really know how to throw a party!" the seagull said.

"Cheese, be quiet! They'll hear you!" Twilight hissed at the bird, before returning to watch the pink pony and the little green gator.

"Oh. I got ya, I got ya! We're being intrepidaceous, huh? We're out to explore and discover!" he squawked, before Twilight clamped his beak shut.

"I've never seen a pony this close before," Twilight said wistfully, as the pink pony bounced across the deck, still blowing into the long Snarfblatt. "Oh. She's very lovely, isn't she?"

"I don't know, Twi. She looks kind of green and slimy to me," Cheese said, as he watched Gummy's tongue flick out and hit his large purple eye.

Twilight giggled. "Not that one! That one!" she said pointing at the pony. "The one playing the Snarfblatt," she continued dreamily.

Suddenly, the music began to stop, as a blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane approached. Twilight was astonished. Aunt Luna told her of the Pegasi, they were distant cousins of the Surface Ponies, but she'd never seen one before.

"Okay! Okay! Settle down, everypony! Settle down! It's now my honor and privilege to present our esteemed Princess, and my very best friend, Pinkie Pie, with a very special, very expensive, very awesome and very large birthday present!" the blue pegasus said, motioning to a large tarp covered object wrapped in a red bow.

Pinkie Pie giggled, and hugged the blue pegasus tight. "Aw, Rainbow Dash, you old soft serve! You shouldn't have," she said.

The pegasus, Rainbow Dash, scoffed and rolled her eyes before pushing Pinkie off of her.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, happy birthday, Pinks," she said, as the tarp was removed to reveal a large marble statue in an...exaggerated likeness of Pinkie Pie, posed on a rocky outcropping. The statue wore a very poofy tunic, with a cape draping down her back. One of her forelegs was propped up on the stylized 'P' near the very front of the pedestal. The head was angled toward the sky, and in her other foreleg she held a large broadsword. The real Pinkie Pie took one look at the statue and was filled with confusion. Gummy's eyes narrowed and hissed at the sight of the marble likeness, or lack thereof, of his mistress.

"Uh, gee, Dashie...ha!" she giggled, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's, uh...It's really something."

"Yeah, I know. Didn't I tell you? Isn't it awesome? I had it designed myself," Rainbow Dash smirked. "Though, I did initially commission it to be a wedding present," Rainbow Dash frowned.

"Dashie, come on! Don't start!" Pinkie laughed, slowly approaching the side of the ship. "You're not still sore that I didn't fall for the Princess of Saddle Arabia, are you?"

"Pinkie, it's not just me. The entire kingdom wants to see you happy and settled down with the right pony. Doesn't even have to be a pony. A griffon, a kirin, anything!" Rainbow Dash said in exasperation.

Pinkie sighed, sitting on the side railing, as she looked out to sea. Unbeknownst to her, Twilight and Cheese were sitting right under her, the former staring up at her with eyes full of wonder and affection.

"She's out there somewhere, Dashie. I know it. I just...I just haven't found her yet," Pinkie said.

"Well, maybe you just haven't been looking hard enough."

"Oh, believe me, Rainbow, when I find her, I'll know. I won't even have to rely on my Pinkie Sense. It'll just, bam, hit me, like lightning!"

Almost as if willed by her words, Pinkie's hindlegs began to twitch, and her tail began to shake, and then a crash of lightning rang across the sky!

"Hurricane coming!"

Twilight gasped at the sky being lit up by the lightning, as the wind began to pick up, until it blew furiously, pitching and yarring the ship violently. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash rushed across the deck to help the sailors, as Gummy shuffled in place, unsure of what to do and scared.

The waves roiled below the ship, moving Sunburst and Spike back under the waves. Cheese tried to hold fast to one of the ropes on the side, but the wind wouldn't have it, pulling at him harder and harder.

"WHOA! The wind's on the move all of a sudden!" he squawked, before being flung into the air and sent spinning away, calling out Twilight's name as the wind pulled him up and up and up.

Aboard the ship, the Captain attempted to right it, but to no avail. The wind howled and roared, as a large amount of sea water soaked the deck. Pinkie raced to the helm to grab the wheel, trying to hold on with all of her might. A mighty wave manifested directly underneath the ship, before the wind threw Twilight back into the water and away from the large vessel. Not wasting anytime, she swam back toward the surface of the water again, her heart filling with dread at what might happen.

Just then, a large lightning bolt struck one of the sails and set it ablaze! Twilight gasped in horror at the sight, as the bow of the ship neared ever closer to a set of jagged rocks.

"EVERYPONY LOOK OUT!" Pinkie yelled too late, as the hull of the ship hit the rocks. It rumbled and shook, before Pinkie and the rest of the crew members, along with the statue, fell over the side.

Rainbow Dash breached the water, before Pinkie, inside one of the freed longboats, pulled her in. "Don't worry, Dashie. I've got you," she said.

"Thanks, Pinks," Rainbow said with a cough.

Just then, a set of multiple squeaks came from the broken hull of the burning ship. Gummy bounced up and down, his purple eyes darting this way and that.

"GUMMY! Oh no! Hold on, I'm coming!" Pinkie shouted, leaping into the water and swimming to the side of the ship. She climbed up and leapt back onto the splintered deck, before the mast with the burning sail above her began to creak. She gasped, as it toppled, and the flames traveled below decks to where the chests of extra fireworks were stored. Gummy jumped up again, squeaking in fright, as Pinkie stood up on her hindlegs and held her forelegs up to the little green gator. "Come on, Gummy! Jump! You can do it, I'm right here!" Gummy's tongue slid over his muzzle before he galloped close toward the edge of the wood and leapt into the air, straight toward his owner. Pinkie caught him with ease, giggling a little and kissing his head. "Good boy, Gummy." With Gummy on her back at a quick pace, Pinkie raced toward the side, but the wood gave and her right hind hoof fell through. Gummy flew off her back and toward the surface of the water. "OH NO! CATCH HIM, DASHIE! HE CAN'T SWIM!!"

Rainbow Dash set her brow and opened her wings, quickly catching Gummy in her forelegs. "Got him, Pinks! Now it's your turn!" she yelled up! Pinkie yanked at her hind leg, trying to free it. The flames surrounded the barrels of pop glitter, a special glitter Pinkie herself had made that was highly flammable and explosive. Within a fraction of a second later, the entire ship exploded!

On the lifeboat below, Rainbow Dash and the crew watched in horror. Just beyond, unbeknownst to them, Twilight matched their expression. She frantically searched for where the pink mare could have gone, finding her unconscious over a piece of soaked broken wood. Another swell of waves pulled Pinkie under, and with a speed that she did not realize she could achieve, Twilight dived down to save the Pony Princess. With a firm grip around Pinkie's barrel, Twilight carried them both to the surface of the water, as the wreckage of the ship burned behind them. In the distance, Gummy's squeaks echoed across the waves, as Twilight carried Pinkie's unconscious body toward the shore.

Author's Note

Next chapter done and, wow, was this a wringer of a chapter. I wanted to get most of Twilight's first glance at Pinkie done, and then began the beginning of the storm at sea. But, I didn't like the idea of splitting it up, as I wanted the 'Part of your World' reprise to be it's own chapter. So, I decided to try and write the whole thing, and this was the result. Honestly, I think this came out really good. The next chapter is the reprise and that's gonna be pretty short. Until then, everypony!