Author's Note

The first thing I want to say is that I DON'T OWN ANYTHING that appears and is used in this story, not the characters or anything else, they all belong to their respective owners. The only thing I own are my OCs, nothing else. Anyway, as you may have guessed, this story is inspired by Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

I've always wanted to write an MLP fanfic related to Disney's Atlantis but didn't come up with any plot ideas until an idea of this story came to mind. Along with Atlantis, this story is inspired by several 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea movies I've seen, both live action and animated.

While I admit that my writing isn't perfect and could use a little more improvement, I hope that people will at least appreciate the hard work I'm putting into this and other stories I'm writing. I might also edit the chapters in the future, I'm always open to improvements. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the story ;)

The Voyage Begins

The sea, it's vast, mysterious, and full of life. Many have dedicated themselves to exploring the farthest and deepest parts of the ocean and uncovering many secrets it holds. Many have found the answers to the life-long questions from the depths but they have brought up even more questions. And sadly, just as many have perished in their quests to explore and study the seas. It was like many say, the sea keeps those it takes.

Somewhere on the Celestial Sea, a pony merchant ship was sailing back to Equestria from the Griffon Kingdom, carrying the cargo of food, supplies, and other goods they got through trading with the griffon merchants. The griffons' prices were a little bit higher this year but nothing ponies couldn't pay, not to mention ponies back home really needed these supplies due to the "troubles" they have had lately in Equestria.

As the ship was sailing west through the fog, a couple of pony sailors were standing on the deck drinking some rum watching the sea though they couldn't see much because of the fog. Still, they were glad they could enjoy some peace and quiet for a change while the rest of the crew was down below.

"Aah, it's so good to sail out here and have some rum without having to worry about pirates," the male earth pony said.

"*Giggles* but aren't you always the one who dreams about a sea adventure and fighting pirates?" The female earth pony asked.

"Yeah, I do. But I also know when to relax," the stallion replied.

"Indeed, which is rare to us earth ponies these days since we tend to work too much. But I guess it's in our nature," the mare said.

"Nah, there's nothing wrong with that. As long as it doesn't kill us," the stallion joked.

Both of them shared a good laugh before changing their topic. However, little did they know that some distance away in the dark depths, something was moving around deep underwater, something that was stalking them like a predator stalking its prey. Quietly, the creature started moving towards the merchant ship, getting closer and closer with the ship's crew unaware of the danger they were in. As the sailors finished drinking their rum and were going to get some more, they stopped when they noticed a dark fish-like form moving beneath the waves.

"Hey, what is that?" The mare asked, pointing at the dark form underwater.

"I don't know. A whale?" The stallion said.

"Whales rarely travel alone and they usually don't get this close to ships. Not to mention that doesn't look like any whale I've ever seen," the mare pointed out.

"Uh, whatever it is, it's getting closer. If it keeps coming, it's gonna hit the ship," the stallion said in concern.

"We better alert the captain and the others," the mare agreed.

She then hit the alarm bell to alert everyone. It wasn't long until the whole crew came up the deck and got to their stations. The captain came out of his cabin shortly after, walking to the sailors who sounded the alarm. One look at his face was enough to tell them that he wasn't happy.

"This better be important. What's this about?" The captain asked sternly.

"A possible whale sighting, sir," the mare answered.

"You brought me and the crew out here because you saw a whale?!" The captain asked, clearly not happy.

"It's coming towards us, sir. If it keeps its current course, it's gonna hit us," the stallion explained, pointing in the direction where the creature was.

The captain took his telescope to get a better look at what the stallion was pointing at. He could clearly see a dark whale-like figure indeed moving closer to their ship. What caught him off-guard, however, was not only the creature's enormous size but also its bizarre appearance. It was at least 380 feet long according to his estimate and it had a huge glowing eye and strange-shaped tail.

"What in the name of Celestia is that thing?" The captain thought.

His thoughts were quickly pushed aside, however, when he noticed the creature increase its speed. This made him realize that if they didn't take action, the creature would hit and possibly sink the ship if it kept its current course.

"Alright, that settles it. Ready the cannons!" The captain ordered.

The crew hastily removed the covers from the cannons the ship had for defensive purposes and started loading them. As soon as the cannons were loaded, the crew aimed them at the approaching creature and waited for the captain's order to fire.

"We're ready, captain," one of the sailors said.

"Good. Wait till I give the order to fire," the captain said.

But when he was about to give the order, the creature made a sudden turn and now its right side was facing the ship.

"This is it! We can hit that thing for sure. Prepare to fire!" The captain said.

"But it's still out of range, sir! Most of our shots will miss," a sailor said.

"Do as I say, sailor. Now, FIRE!" The captain ordered.

Doing as ordered, the crew fired the cannons at the creature. Most of the shots indeed missed their target but a few managed to hit the creature. The crew, however, was both surprised and shocked that the cannon balls didn't do any damage, and they could have sworn that they heard a clang when the balls hit the creature.

"What the buck?! That's impossible? No sea creature can survive the cannon balls!" The captain said in disbelief.

"That thing must be armored. What do we do now, captain?" A sailor asked.

Before the captain could reply, eight objects departed from the creature and headed toward the ship at high speed.

"Sir! We've got incoming!" A sailor yelled.

"Brace for impact!" The captain told the crew but it was too late.

The moment the objects hit the ship's hull, a massive explosion followed. A second later, the whole ship exploded into hundreds of wooden pieces when the explosion ignited the powder kegs in the cargo hold. What was left of the ship quickly sank into the depths while some of its burning pieces of wood remained on the surface along with the crew, or what was left of them.

As the destroyed merchant ship was embracing its watery grave, the creature responsible for the atrocity was swimming away from the ship's place of demise, going back into the depths from whence it came.

Ponyville, a week later

"Spike! Is everything packed yet?" Twilight asked.

"Almost. I'm just finishing packing the marine biology books," Spike replied.

"Good. Did you also pack my notebooks?" Twilight asked.

"The first thing I did, as always," Spike assured.

"Excellent! At this rate, we should make it to the train station with our things in fifteen minutes," Twilight said while checking the clock on the wall.

"No offense, Twilight, but I think you're being... well... Twilight again," Spike said, rolling his eyes.

"Spike! The girls and I are going on a mission to find out who or what has been sinking our ships over the past year and put a stop to it. Sorry if I'm overreacting but this mission is so important that we can't afford any errors," Twilight reminded.

Over the past year, both military and civilian ships of the Equestrian Navy have been destroyed in both the Celestial Sea and Luna Ocean. At first, it was believed that the ships were lost in a storm or suffered an accident, but these theories were quickly dismissed when the Equestrian ships getting destroyed on the sea became more frequent. But the most horrifying part about it was that there were never any survivors, not even one, which led to the conclusion that the ships were being intentionally destroyed.

The Princesses and the Equestrian High Council first suspected it to be the work of pirates who would have been attracted by the merchant ships' valuable cargo and the military ships' new cannons. This theory, however, was put into question when the Coast Guard reported that the destroyed ships were simply blown to bits in massive explosions along with their cargo and weapons. Not to mention there were no signs of a battle that the pirate attacks would have left behind, it merely seemed that the ships were just destroyed and their crews killed without plundering them.

When the news of ships getting destroyed reached the public, many conspiracy theories began to rise among the citizens. The most common theories were that the griffons had developed a new weapon against ponies or that some bloodthirsty dragon was targeting the pony ships. But the one theory that most of Equestria believed was that a terrible sea monster had risen from the depths to terrorize any ponies unfortunate enough to cross paths with it, even though it didn't explain why only the pony ships were being targeted.

With these attacks happening for a year now, the Princesses decided to take action and hunt down this creature and put a stop to it at whatever cost. Due to her past accomplishments and history of saving Equestria from many threats, Twilight was chosen to lead the expedition and was given the best ship and crew they could find. Since her friends have also played a vital role in saving Equestria in the past, they were allowed to join the expedition as well even though they couldn't bring the Elements of Harmony with them so the Tree of Harmony wouldn't die.

However, not all of Twilight's friends were going with her to the sea. Because this mission was far more dangerous than the ones in the past and the chances of being killed much higher than before, it was decided that Spike would stay behind in Ponyville with the Apple family looking after him. Of course, Spike protested the decision of leaving him behind and insisted on coming with them but Twilight denied it, saying it was too dangerous for him and that she couldn't live with herself if he died due to her failure to protect him. It took a lot of convincing but Spike eventually agreed to stay behind for his own protection.

But Twilight and her friends didn't have much time. Even though it took a year, the attacks were now starting to take their toll on Equestria. With so many merchant ships destroyed, Equestria was facing the threat of famine, not to mention the kingdom was now mostly unprotected from the sea due to the huge losses to the navy.

Despite working harder and longer, the farmers couldn't grow enough food for everyone due to the increased population and the carpenters couldn't build enough ships due to the lack of construction materials and they dared not to cut down too many trees from Equestrian forests out of fear of causing severe damage to the environment. So it was quite understandable why Twilight was a bit under pressure.

"I know that, Twilight! I'm just saying that you shouldn't keep yourself under pressure the whole time. It's unhealthy," Spike said.

Knowing that her assistant had a point, Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself before replying.

"I'm sorry, Spike. I know I shouldn't worry all the time. It's just... there's a lot at stake this time," Twilight apologized.

"It's okay, Twilight, I understand. I know this mission is taking a lot but I'm sure you'll pull through, you always do," Spike said.

"Thanks, Spike. I appreciate it," Twilight said as she gently pulled her assistant into a hug.

"Are you sure you don't want me on this one, Twilight?" Spike asked after pulling away.

"We've been through this, Spike. This mission is too dangerous for you and I don't want to lose you. You're still young, you have a whole life ahead of you and I don't want that robbed from you," Twilight said.

"I know. It's just a bit strange that I'm staying home this time. Kind of hard to adjust since I've been with you and the girls on every adventure before this one," Spike said.

"Yeah, it's hard for me too to leave without you. But it's for your protection," Twilight said.

"I know and I appreciate it. But are you sure this mission being dangerous is the only reason for me staying in Ponyville?" Spike asked.

"What do you mean, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Though you've been able to hide it from others, I can see that you're still sad about what happened two years ago," Spike said.

What the baby dragon said made Twilight freeze and recall the dark events that happened two years ago. Shortly after the Storm King incident, the Equestrian High Council felt that they needed to take far more drastic measures to maintain security and uphold the law in Equestria and that they should do it themselves since they thought the princesses lacked the "courage" to do what needed to be done, that they were soft and would go too easy on ponies guilty of serious crimes.

So they started hunting down every pony guilty of committing some form of crime but got away with it because the princesses or Twilight's friends were too merciful. The main targets of this "witch hunt" were Starlight Glimmer, Tempest Shadow, and Sunset Shimmer because their crimes were the most serious.

Out of all three mares, Starlight was the easiest to apprehend since she was attending her duties alone in Twilight's castle while the others were a bit more challenging to capture. The council managed to track down Tempest but catching and bringing her to Canterlot proved to be difficult due to her resisting the arrest and evading the authorities until she was caught. As for Sunset, she was lured to Equestria with a false invitation to her diary saying that the princesses needed her help. As soon as Sunset was in custody, the mirror portal was destroyed to prevent anyone from coming or going through it.

In their trial, Starlight and Sunset were both found guilty of abusing their magic but all three mares were found guilty of high treason. Tempest because she served the Storm King, Starlight for her time-travel stunt that caused Equestria's destruction in the future, and Sunset for stealing the Element of Magic and attempting to use it to conquer Equestria.

Despite everything Twilight did in her power to save them, the council sentenced all three mares to death by decapitation. The sentence was carried out the next morning in Canterlot where Starlight, Tempest, and Sunset met their ends in front of thousands of ponies witnessing their execution, forever being remembered as the worst traitors in Equestrian history. Sadly, it didn't end there, it was just the beginning.

The next ponies to be arrested and put on trial were Trixie Lulamoon, Suri Polomare, Lightning Dust, and Flim Flam Brothers. Suri and Lightning were sentenced to life in prison but Trixie and Flim Flam Brothers were decapitated due to the new law dictating that any unicorn who abused their magic in any way would be sentenced to die with no exceptions.

The princesses were outraged by the council's actions and threatened to dismantle it if they continued their extreme ways of upholding the law. The council, however, in turn, threatened to reveal to the public the princesses' inability to punish Starlight and the others for their crimes, mistakes that led to the numerous disasters, everything that would "prove" the princesses' incompetence as rulers.

This threw the princesses into a corner because if the information got out, it would have seriously undermined their rule and turned their own subjects against them. However, the council offered a compromise that they would keep quiet about the princesses' failures as long as they were allowed to handle running Equestria's security and judicial system and take part in political affairs instead of being the princesses' advisors as they've always been.

The princesses didn't like it but they agreed to the council's terms. Though the compromise prevented the country from being divided, it meant that the monarchy no longer existed in the practical matter. Even to this day, the princesses and the council were still at odds even though they didn't show it in public. Mostly it was about the council making new laws such as death penalties to any magic abusers that the princesses found too extreme or increasing their power and influence way above that of the Princesses, which always led to numerous arguments that somehow ended with the council always getting what they wanted.

But the recent and most disturbing thing was the rumor that the council was going to declare that the Crystal Empire should no longer remain as an independent kingdom but instead become part of Equestria. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor didn't like that the council was going to take away their empire's independence just like that but they couldn't do anything since it was still just a rumor. There was also a concern that refusing the council's decree would start a war between the Crystal Empire and Equestria.

If she hadn't been put in charge of the expedition, Twilight would have gone to help her brother and sister-in-law in that matter. Perhaps by making some new law that would limit the council's power and authority. But finding the creature responsible for the destruction of countless ships was her priority right now, politics just had to wait.

"*Sighs* Spike, please don't bring that up now. I can't afford to get distracted by my past failures," Twilight said sadly.

"It wasn't your fault, Twilight. The council manipulated the whole thing in their favor. They didn't fight fairly," Spike said.

"But it's still my fault that Starlight and the others are dead because I couldn't protect them from the bunch of power-hungry bureaucrats who saw them as monsters they wanted to get rid of," Twilight said.

"You did everything you could, Twilight," Spike said.

"Evidently, it wasn't enough. The council is still running things, Celestia and Luna can't do anything to stop their growth of power, and now my brother and sister-in-law are facing a threat of war if they refuse to give up their independence," Twilight said.

"The magic of friendship will save us from this mess, it always does," Spike assured.

"The magic of friendship can't save everyone and it's not the answer to every problem," Twilight disagreed.

"How can you say that, Twilight?! You're the Princess of Friendship, you're not supposed to say things like that," Spike said, not believing what he just heard.

"Everything changed when I faced reality, Spike. My beliefs were shattered when I saw how the world really works. I still hold onto my ideals and try to spread friendship to everyone but I must be realistic as well. And I'm still a bit angry at myself for foolishly thinking that ponies would just forgive Starlight and the others for what they did," Twilight said.

It pained Spike to hear his mother figure talk like that but he kept listening.

"I couldn't save Starlight and the others from the consequences of their past actions but I can honor their memory by continuing my duty as a princess and protect my friends and loved ones. I'm not going to fail in that again," Twilight finished.

Even though it hurt Spike deeply to hear Twilight say those things and see that she was still pained by what happened to Starlight and their other friends the council put to death two years ago, he could also see that it made the princess a little better now that she got it out of her chest and decided not to prolong this conversation any further.

"Well, I guess it's time to go, huh?" Spike said a little nervously.

"Yes, indeed it is," Twilight said.

"I'll help you carry the bags to the train station," Spike offered.

"Thanks, Spike. One more thing," Twilight said.

Before the dragon could ask what she meant, Twilight gave him a deep hug which Spike gladly returned.

"I'm going to miss you, Mom," Spike said with small tears in his eyes.

"I'll miss you too, my son. But I promise I will come back home safe and sound," Twilight promised.

Once they broke the hug, both of them grabbed their fair share of bags and departed from the castle, heading to Ponyville's train station where their friends were waiting for them, excited to embark on yet another adventure.

Later on the Manehatten port

After an hour's train ride, Twilight and the others arrived in Manehatten where they were supposed to meet the princesses. Of course, Rarity wanted to stay in the city for a while to do some shopping but Twilight told her they had no time for that and they couldn't keep the princesses waiting, much to the fashion pony's annoyance. It wasn't long until they got to the city's port where the princesses along with Shining Armor were waiting for them.

"Princess Celestia, we're here!" Twilight greeted, waving her hoof.

"Twilight, it is so good to see you and your friends again," Celestia said as she gave her former student a hug.

"Indeed," Luna agreed.

"Same here, we only hope that it was under better circumstances," Cadence said.

"Come now, honey. Let's not ruin the moment," Shining said with a wink.

"Oh, hush you," Cadence said, giving her husband a playful nudge.

With the pleasantries out of the way, the ponies went down to business.

"As you know, dozens of our ships have been sunk and destroyed over the past year by an unknown entity, with no survivors to tell a tale. If this menace is not dealt with soon, our economy is not the only thing that will be affected by this," Luna explained.

"Famine is already on our doorstep due to not receiving merchandise from our neighbors and Equestria cannot produce enough food for everyone on its own. We desperately need supplies through trade but we cannot do that with this entity threatening our ships," Celestia added.

"It also doesn't help that our navy has been severely weakened by this thing which leaves our coasts vulnerable to attack. We don't have enough materials to build more ships and our naval forces are stretched too thin to guard every port," Shining finished.

Twilight and her friends couldn't help but feel shocked at what they were told. They knew the situation was bad but they never expected it to be so serious that their country would soon have trouble to keep itself from falling apart. If anything, this only further motivated the Mane 6 to accomplish their mission to save their country.

"Do you have any leads?" Twilight asked.

"The last hit was somewhere on the Celestial Sea a week ago. A merchant ship was sailing back to Equestria with the goods from the Griffon Kingdom until it was ambushed and destroyed. I'm afraid there was nothing left but some pieces of wood from the ship and severed parts of the crew," Shining informed.

When he mentioned the "severed parts", the Mane 6 and Spike felt their skin turn green and nearly puked but were able to keep their lunch in their bellies.

"We exhausted every possible way to track down this creature but our efforts have been fruitless. I even tried to find it in the dreamworld but found no trace of it," Luna said.

"Since all else has failed, our only option now is to send a ship after whatever it is sinking our ships," Celestia added.

"And since you and your friends have saved Equestria many times in the past, Twilight, you're the only ones we can entrust with this mission," Cadence finished.

"We understand, princess, and are more than willing to accept this mission. We'll do whatever it takes to fulfill our duty," Twilight said with determination.

Celestia and her fellow royals couldn't help but smile and feel proud of Twilight and her friends, knowing that they could always count on the six mares to save Equestria in its time of need.

"I'm so proud of you, Twilight. You have grown to be a good princess who will one day lead all of Equestria to a bright future," Celestia said, making Twilight blush.

"*Chuckles* I had a good teacher," Twilight said, making Celestia blush in return.

"Well, I guess it's time to embark, girls," Shining said.

"Speaking of, where's our ship?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, I don't remember seeing it anywhere the moment we got here," Applejack added.

"Actually, it's right there," Shining said, pointing at their ship.

When the girls looked at where the stallion was pointing, their eyes widened while Rainbow's mouth fell to the ground. Docked on the pier closest to them was a ship unlike anything they'd seen before, and definitely the most advanced one ever built in Equestrian history.

(The ship is similar to the Morrigan from Assassin's Creed: Rogue)

The ship was small but fast and was armed to the teeth with the latest state-of-the-art weaponry devised by pony hooves such as cannons, mortars, puckle guns, and even burning oil. The ship's hull was upgraded with an experimental armor plating light enough not to sink the ship but strong enough to withstand even the strongest of impacts. From what Twilight could tell, this ship was solely designed for warfare and taking down large targets.

"That's so... Awesome!" Rainbow shouted in joy.

"Holy apples! That's some ship," Applejack said in awe.

"It could use a little more style but it will do," Rarity commented.

"The carpenters really outdid themselves," Twilight said.

"I hoped you would be impressed. We named her "Thunder", mainly because she's fast and packs a lot of firepower. She's also the first ship to ever have a metal armor plating on the hull," Shining explained.

"I really feel like it's Hearth's Warming," Rainbow said dreamily.

"Down, girl. This ship's only loaned to us so you can't keep it. We've gotta bring her back in one piece to its owners after all," Applejack reminded.

"*Groans* You're no fun," Rainbow muttered.

"What about the crew? We don't exactly know anything about sailing, let alone how to operate a ship," Twilight asked.

"Don't worry, sis, I took care of that. Though I'm no longer the captain of the guard, I still have friends there. So I pulled some strings, asked a few favors, and got the best crew we could on the moment's notice," Shining told.

"What about the captain? Who will that be?" Twilight asked.

"That would be you, Twily," Shining answered with a grin.

After hearing this, Twilight couldn't help but feel like her brother was trying to pull a prank on her.

"What?! Me, a captain? You can't be serious?" Twilight asked in shock.

"I'm very serious, Twilight," Shining replied.

"But I have absolutely no idea of how to be a captain! I'm a princess but that doesn't make me a military commander of any sort," Twilight panicked.

"Twilight! Please, calm down. We know that commanding a ship may sound difficult but it's not really. Just give the orders and the crew will do the rest," Cadence assured.

Using a little trick she learned from her old foal sitter, Twilight took a deep breath and then blew the air out of her mouth, which almost instantly calmed her nerves as it did with Cadence every time she performed this simple and yet significant trick.

"Okay, I'll do my best," Twilight promised.

"That's good to hear, Twilight," Cadence said with a warm smile.

With that out of the way, the two princesses turned back to the others who were ready to begin their voyage.

"Well, I guess this is it," Twilight said.

"Wait, there is one more thing we must tell you," Celestia said.

"What is it, princess?" Twilight asked.

"Due to the 'disagreements' my sister and I had with the council, I'm afraid you and your friends have only limited time to complete your mission," Celestia revealed.

"What?! how long?" Twilight asked.

"A month," Luna replied.

This caused the girls to once again widen their eyes in shock and Rainbow's mouth to fall to the ground.

"A month?! But this mission could take much longer than that. How can the council expect us to achieve our objective only in a month?" Twilight asked, shocked.

She knew that they had limited time but she hoped they would have several months to accomplish their mission instead of one.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. Luna and I tried to convince the council to give you more time but they wouldn't have it," Celestia said regretfully.

"Why those no-good dirty backstabbing-"

"Rainbow! Not in front of the princesses!" Rarity scolded the rainbow-maned pegasus.

"But why only a month?" Twilight asked.

"It was the price for you having the Thunder," Celestia replied.

"What do you mean, your highness?" Applejack asked.

"The council has also been affected by these attacks on our ships, mostly economically which weakens their political power. I could be mistaken but it could be the reason they're aiming to make the Crystal Empire part of Equestria because it's rich in resources that could sustain our kingdom for years," Luna explained.

The Lunar Princess's theory made both Cadence and Shining feel disgusted at the council. The very idea that they wanted to make the Crystal Empire their own so they could get their dirty hooves on the vast resources there was sickening.

"And with what's been happening this past year, the council isn't willing to waste any valuable resources unless it's in their benefit. The Thunder is so far the most advanced battleship ever constructed and they're not willing to lose something that valuable," Luna explained.

"It wasn't easy but we were able to convince the council to loan you the Thunder but only for a month. If your mission is not completed by then, you must return to Equestria with the ship. Preferably as much intact as possible," Celestia finished.

"If that happens, then all shipping will be halted to prevent more ships from sinking and further loss of life and resort to using airships to perform shipping and trading. It's not ideal and will repair our economy slowly but it's the best back-up plan we could come up with," Cadence added.

Twilight looked at her friends who had worried looks on their faces. Even with a ship as fast as the Thunder, only a month was not enough time to search every part of every sea for the creature. While Twilight understood that the Thunder was a precious resource to the council, they still should have given her and her friends more time to accomplish their mission. For a moment she actually thought that this might be another of the council's hidden schemes to make the Mane 6 look bad and incompetent which would shatter the ponies' trust in them.

Nevertheless, they needed to be adaptable. They got the ship, crew, and time which was better than nothing. With a heavy sigh, Twilight turned back to her brother and other princesses.

"We understand, princess. We'll do everything in our power to find this thing and put a stop to it, no matter what it takes," Twilight vowed.

Feeling proud of her former student, Celestia gave Twilight a warm smile before speaking.

"In that case, we all wish you the best of luck for your mission and bless your voyage," Celestia declared.

Twilight smiled at her mentor and nodded before turning to Cadence and Shining who hugged her.

"Good luck, Twily/Return home safely," the royal couple said in unison.

"Thanks, I will," Twilight thanked before turning to her assistant who hugged her even more deeply.

"I'll be waiting for you and the others in your castle. I'll keep it as nice and clean as possible," Spike said with tears in his eyes.

"Shh, don't cry, Spike. We'll be back in a month, I promise you, son," Twilight said kindly.

"Thank you, mom," Spike said.

With that, Twilight and her friends boarded the brand new ship and set sail toward the unknown with their family waving at them from the port until the ship had gone entirely from their sight. Little did the girls know, however, that this adventure would change their lives in ways they would have never imagined.