Chapters 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Aboard The Ulysses
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.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Aboard The Ulysses
A month. A painfully long month has passed since the girls set sail from Manehattan port on their expedition to hunt the "sea monster" as many of them still believed except Twilight. Whatever excitement they had at the beginning of the voyage quickly faded away when the days on the ship became long, boring, and tiresome as their search for the creature proved fruitless.
At first, it was great. If you didn't count Rarity getting seasick or Fluttershy being scared of sharks, the voyage went remarkably well. To pass the time, the girls did whatever they could since they didn't really have any "duties" to perform on the ship as the crew did.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie spent most of their time in the ship's kitchen cooking food and managing the supplies since they did it a lot back home, and the crew just loved the deserts the earth pony mares made.
Rarity and Fluttershy were mainly on deck helping the crew to keep it clean, despite Rarity's numerous complaints of getting herself sweaty under Celestia's sun. Besides cleaning, Fluttershy also used her time on deck to observe the marine life such as dolphins that surfaced to greet her from time to time. But whenever the shy pegasus saw sharks looking for a meal, she instantly flew inside one of the barrels to hide much to the crew's amusement.
Rainbow, on the other hand, couldn't help but admire the ship's guns and continually ask the crew how to operate them. Next to becoming a Wonderbolt, Rainbow loved ponies' new weapons such as cannons and muskets that recently entered the Equestrian military's service due to the introduction of gunpowder from the griffons. As annoying as her attitude was, the crew always was more than happy to explain how the cannons worked.
As for Twilight, she mostly remained in her cabin conducting research on the creature responsible for sinking Equestrian ships. While many believed that it was a sea monster hungering for pony flesh, Twilight highly doubted it.
From what she had been able to gather, every ship seemed to have been destroyed by an explosion. What little evidence she had indicated that something hit the ships' hulls and exploded which ignited the powder kegs on board, thus causing a massive explosion that left no survivors from any of the destroyed ships.
As far as Twilight knew, no living sea creature could cause something like this which made her suspect that maybe the culprit was some kind of new weapon from foreign countries and that these attacks were test runs. But she couldn't just go and accuse the griffons or other races for the attacks due to the lack of evidence, not to mention of it causing a diplomatic incident which Equestria couldn't afford.
She also had trouble figuring out which nation could build a weapon of that magnitude. The only one she could think of was the Griffon Kingdom due to their remarkable engineering. In fact, it was the griffons who invented the musket and other muzzleloaders which ponies later copied. But even griffons weren't technologically advanced enough to engineer something as devastating as this, so Twilight was back to square one.
The most difficult part was getting the creature's description which was fuzzy at best. The best description she got was from some traveling griffon fishers in Vanhoover who claimed to have seen a massive fish with a huge glowing eye and unusual tail swimming somewhere in the North Luna Ocean far from the mainland.
Still, based on all the current evidence, Twilight strongly believed that this wasn't a sea creature of any kind, but she still couldn't quite guess or figure out what they were dealing with. Every theory she came up with turned out to be a dead end and every clue turned up nothing which frustrated her more every day. But it was becoming clear that she had to think outside the box if she were to discover what this creature was.
But as the days went by, the girls' search for the creature proved to be futile. No matter where they looked, they just couldn't find it, almost as if it just disappeared into thin air the moment the Mane 6 went out searching for it. But now that they had passed the deadline, Twilight had no choice but to call off the search and order the ship to return home despite Rainbow's protests. It pained Twilight that she would have to go back home empty-handed, but at least she would see her dear Spike again who was expecting her to come home soon.
Speaking of the young princess, she was currently in her cabin going through her notes about the creature they had been unable to find. Though she had not shown it to her friends, Twilight was beyond frustrated with her failure.
"Just what the hay are you? How do you keep eluding me even when I've exhausted every possible way to identify you?" Twilight thought while looking at unclear drawings of the creature.
Her thoughts were put to a halt, however, when someone sounded the alarm and Applejack entered the cabin in a hurry.
"Twilight! Emergency!" Applejack said.
"What?! What's going on, AJ?" Twilight asked.
"We were on deck playing cards until Fluttershy saw something in the distance, something moving," Applejack told.
"What was it? What did she see?" Twilight asked.
"She didn't say. She was so scared that she couldn't get a word out. Rainbow flew up to get a better look and said she saw something large swimming nearby, something with a huge glowing eye and odd-looking tail," Applejack explained.
The moment the farmer pony gave her the description, Twilight's eyes widened in horror. They had found it, they had found the creature they'd been looking for. Without another word, Twilight teleported herself to the deck and ordered everyone to their stations.
"All crew to battle stations! This is not a drill!" Twilight ordered.
"What's going on, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah! What made you so spooked all of a sudden?" Applejack added as she joined the others on deck.
"This is it! We found the creature we've been looking for," Twilight said.
When she said it, all of her friends became both shocked and horrified. As for Twilight, she couldn't help but feel the irony that when they stopped looking for the creature, they found it or it found them.
"Are you sure?" Applejack asked.
"The description you gave me matches the ones I've noted. Trust me, this is it," Twilight insisted.
"*Screams* Are you telling me we're about to go into battle with a sea monster?" Rarity panicked.
"I want to go home!" Fluttershy screamed.
"Girls! Calm down! We have come too far to stop now and we can't let that thing get away. Everyone back home is depending on us to stop this creature and that's exactly what we're gonna do!" Twilight yelled.
With that said, everyone went to their stations. The crew loaded the cannons and Twilight was observing the creature with her telescope. It was exactly where Rainbow and Fluttershy said it was, apparently swimming calmly as if it didn't know about them which made Twilight pleased because they had the element of surprise.
"How far are we from the target?" Twilight asked.
"We're almost in range, your highness," one of the sailors said.
"Good. As soon as we're in range, fire the cannons," Twilight ordered.
"Aye aye, princess," the sailor replied.
"Uh, Twi. Are we really gonna shoot first and ask questions later?" Applejack asked in concern.
"We don't have a choice, AJ. This thing has already destroyed dozens of our ships and killed hundreds of ponies. We must put a stop to it before more lives are lost," Twilight reasoned.
"Yeah! Besides, I'm just dying to wait to fire these babies," Rainbow said as she patted the cannons.
"It's the 'dying' part that worries me," Applejack said.
Their conversation was cut short when one of the sailors yelled.
"The creature is now on the firing line, princess! We are also in range!" The sailor reported.
"Open fire!" Twilight ordered.
The second she gave the order, every cannon and mortar fired at the creature. From what Twilight could see through her telescope, every shot they fired seemed to have hit their target but she couldn't tell if they caused any damage due to the creature being underwater.
"Did we get it?" Applejack asked.
"I'm not sure. We hit it but I can't tell if we destroyed it," Twilight answered.
"Well, hopefully, it now knows it never should have messed with us ponies!" Rainbow said defiantly.
"Hey! I think that thing is doing something," Rarity alerted.
Twilight took another look with her telescope and could see eight objects depart from the creature and head toward them. And judging from their speed, they would hit the Thunder in less than a minute. This instantly made Twilight recall how this thing had destroyed all those ships. Knowing what would happen, Twilight pulled her friends close with her magic and created a shield around them.
"Every pony brace for impact!" Twilight shouted.
Then, the objects hit the ship's hull and a massive explosion followed. The armor plating was useless against the objects and the powder kegs onboard increased the power of the explosion. The force from the explosion pushed Twilight and her friends overboard but were protected by the princess' shield around them though it shattered when they hit the water.
When they went under, the Mane 6 flapped their hooves as fast as they could. Luckily, they didn't have to swim long till they reached the surface. As they floated, Twilight and her friends watched in horror as what little was left of the Thunder sank beneath the sea, leaving only burning pieces of wood behind. From the exhaustion of overusing her magic, Twilight felt her consciousness slip away.
"No," Twilight moaned before everything went dark.
Later
After what felt like forever, Twilight slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying on something solid. As she was waking up, her friends ran to her side and helped her on her hooves.
"Twilight! Are you okay?" Applejack asked.
"I think so. Just a little dizzy," Twilight replied.
"Thank Celestia you're alright, darling. For a moment we feared the worst," Rarity said.
"It's so good you're okay, Twilight," Fluttershy agreed.
"Yeah! You're like an indestructible super pony!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Come on, girls! This is Twilight, she can survive anything," Rainbow added.
Feeling her cheeks turn red, Twilight was glad her friends were okay. But her relief soon turned into curiosity when she took a look around her and noticed that they were standing on something solid but there was nothing but ocean around them.
"Girls, what's going on? How come are we standing on the ocean?" Twilight asked.
"We don't know, Twi. While you were out, we found this spot and swam to it to avoid drowning. But we can't exactly tell what it is though it definitely isn't an island or whale," Applejack answered.
"We've taken a look at it ourselves but all we can tell is that it's solid like a rock," Rarity said.
"Yep, but it sure doesn't feel like a rock," Pinkie added.
Once she regained her senses, Twilight took a look at what they were standing on herself and could tell it was solid but she discovered something else as well.
"Hmm, that's odd," Twilight said.
"What is it, darling?" Rarity asked.
"It feels like this thing is made of metal," Twilight said.
This caused her friends to blink their eyes but whatever they were about to say was interrupted when what they were standing on started to shake violently.
"*Screams* What in the name of Celestia is going on?!" Rarity panicked.
"Every pony calm down! Whatever this thing is, I think it's surfacing!" Twilight yelled.
And not a moment too soon, the thing emerged from the depths and the six mares couldn't believe their eyes. What they were seeing was not a sea monster or marine animal of any kind. It was a vessel made of metal.
"What in tarnation?!" Applejack yelled.
"What the heck is this thing?!" Rainbow asked angrily.
The moment Twilight saw the thing they were standing on, it hit her like lightning.
"OF COURSE!"
"Please don't yell, Twilight! You're making my ears bleed!" Rarity whined.
"Sorry, Rarity. But can't you girls see what this is?" Twilight said pointing at the vessel under them.
"Then tell us what it is already," Rainbow said.
"This is a ship! Not just any ship. It's a ship that moves underwater, a submarine!" Twilight said excitedly.
"An underwater ship? But that's impossible! There's no such thing," Rainbow denied.
"The evidence is standing right under us, Rainbow. I can't believe I didn't realize it before. I have read from history books that griffons had made some experimental submarines such as the "Turtle" and "Hunley" in their previous conflicts with Equestria but those didn't work properly. But this... this is a real working submarine. This is a great scientific discovery!" Twilight exclaimed in rejoice.
"Alright, time out! Before your head explodes, Twilight. Do I have to remind you that this thing's been sinking our ships lately? Not to mention it blew our ship to pieces!" Rainbow yelled angrily.
"That's enough you two!" Applejack interjected. "What's important right now is to figure out what to do now."
Once the girls calmed down, they started to take a closer look at the ship. They seemed to be standing on some kind of platform judging from the railing around them. What caught their attention next were two sphere-like turrets with a gun on each side but they couldn't see anyone inside them except one seat in each one and what Twilight assumed were the controls used to operate them. The only other things they saw were two metal wire things and what they assumed was a rudder, which was huge by the way, but nothing else. But no matter where they looked, they couldn't find a door of any kind.
"You girls see any doors?" Applejack asked.
"Nothing here," Rainbow replied.
"I can't see it anywhere. The door must be cleverly disguised into the hull," Twilight concluded.
"When how are we supposed to get inside? I don't really want to sit here waiting till this thing submerges," Rarity asked.
"I don't know, girls. Let's just-"
What Twilight tried to say was cut short when they heard something coming from behind them. They quickly turned and saw a hatch opened with the ship's occupants coming out from it, whose appearance caused the girls' eyes to widen. The creatures were what Twilight recognized as humans (males) but clearly not the ones she had seen in Canterlot High. And based on their appearance, they were soldiers.
The humans were wearing army green trench coat uniforms with a red A-like symbol on each shoulder and had their faces hidden behind gas masks and neck-covered helmets. The princess became concerned when she saw most of them carrying what appeared to be weapons (SMLE No. 1 Mk III* rifles) similar to griffons' muskets but clearly more advanced in operation and design. The humans stood quietly in front of them until the one in the middle spoke.
"The Equestrian warship has been destroyed along with her crew. There's nothing left of her but burning pieces of wood floating on the ocean. And as far as we know, you six are the only survivors," the human said.
Most of the Mane 6 became horrified when they were told that only they survived, except Rainbow who felt great anger at the humans for killing their crew.
"Now, whoever you are, our captain wants you to understand something and understand it well. You are lost at sea and dead to the world. If you choose to enter the Ulysses , you choose to enter a different world, a new world. And you can give up all hope of returning to yours," the human continued.
This time the Mane 6 could feel their hearts pumping fast as they listened to the human in front of them telling them his terms, except Rainbow whose blood was boiling from all the anger she felt.
"If you do not agree to these terms, the Ulysses shall return to its world and leave you to yours," the human finished.
Twilight and her friends had conflicting feelings about their current situation. They knew that if they refused, they would be left to drown. But if they accepted the humans' offer to enter their ship, they would likely never see their friends and loved ones again.
Twilight's feelings of uncertainty, however, were quickly replaced by curiosity. She was very eager to see the human ship from the inside and find out how it worked. She also wanted to meet their captain to see if she could negotiate on her friends' behalf for better arrangements. As for her friends, all of them had different thoughts about their predicament.
Applejack wasn't sure if she and her friends could trust these humans, but she was feeling inclined to accept their offer if it meant seeing another day. Rarity felt the same as her farmer friend did while Fluttershy and Pinkie preferred to let Twilight choose their fate. Rainbow, on the other hand, wanted to tell the humans to go to Tartarus and where to shove up their offer. After long and careful thinking, Twilight gave the human her answer.
"Sir, we agree to your terms," Twilight said.
"WHAT! Twilight, you can't be serious?" Rainbow disagreed.
"We don't have a choice, Rainbow! It's a choice between life and death, yes, but I prefer life instead of death!" Twilight argued.
"Well, if you wanna be held prisoner in this rusty tin can, fine! But you can count me and the others out!" Rainbow said.
"Shut that big darn mouth of yours, Rainbow! And don't ever think you're speaking on our behalf!" Applejack yelled.
"What?! You can't possibly be thinking of accepting their offer, are you?" Rainbow asked in disbelief.
"If it allows us to live to see another day, then darn straight we go for it. And Applebloom still needs me, I can't die here and leave her when she's still so young," Applejack said.
"And don't forget that it was a miracle we survived. I'm certainly not going to let it go to waste," Twilight added.
Since she didn't get support from the princess and farmer, Rainbow turned to the others who hadn't yet spoken their mind.
"What about you, guys? Please tell me you're not considering this," Rainbow asked.
"Sorry, Dash. But I agree with Twilight and Applejack. Besides, I can't bear the thought of leaving poor Sweetie Belle alone in the world by dying while she is still just a filly," Rarity answered.
"Um, I think Twilight is right and it certainly can't be that bad," Fluttershy said quietly.
"Yep, not to mention I don't want to end up in a watery grave. I still have so many cakes to bake," Pinkie added.
Rainbow couldn't believe what she was hearing. All of her friends wanted to go with the humans into the underwater ship responsible for sinking the Thunder and killing her crew. The same ship that has been blowing up pony ships and causing famine and political unrest in Equestria as a result. The idea that they were just going to surrender themselves was unthinkable. Still, though she didn't like it, even Rainbow knew it was pointless to argue with her friends who had already made their decision so she might as well just go along with it.
"*Groans* Fine. But only because you're my friends," Rainbow muttered.
With the rainbow-maned member of their group finally agreeing to their decision, Twilight turned back to the human in front of her.
"We are ready to join you, sir," Twilight said.
"Follow me," the human replied.
He led the ponies to the hatch and signaled them to enter, which they held no objections to. As soon as they were all inside and the hatch was closed, the ship soon disappeared beneath the waves as if it never existed.
Once they were inside the submarine, the Mane 6 took a good look at their surroundings. Just like the hull, the sub's interior was also made of metal. The deck they were in was lit by several light bulbs on the ceiling that were powered by energy unknown to ponykind. They could also breathe fresh air inside the ship like on the surface. These few facts were enough to spark Twilight's curiosity, she just had to know how this submarine worked and was anxious to meet the one responsible for creating this scientific marvel.
Despite their situation, Twilight's friends, except Rainbow, couldn't help but also be in awe. Though they were a bit intimidating, Applejack wanted to get to know the ship's crew a little better while Rarity wondered if there was a spa or at least a shower in the submarine. Fluttershy hoped to see marine life underwater and Pinkie wanted to see what kind of kitchen the humans had onboard. Rainbow, on the other hand, couldn't think of anything else other than how to escape from the ship they were on and while she didn't admit it out loud, she also didn't like tight spaces.
When they were done admiring, Twilight turned to the human who brought them on board, the one who at this point identified himself as Lieutenant. This meant that he was the Second-In-Command onboard this underwater ship. But that was all he was willing to tell them at this point, refraining from telling them his name nor revealing his face. Twilight could only assume that was because he was under orders.
"Where do we go now, sir?" Twilight asked.
"We'll now take you to your quarters where you will stay put till the captain is ready to see you," the Lieutenant answered.
"And how long we would have to wait?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know, ma'am. A few hours tops," the Lieutenant replied.
Finally breaking her nerve, Rainbow flew straight to the hatch they entered the sub from and was forcefully trying to open it.
"That's it! I can't take this anymore! Let me out of here, let me out!" Rainbow shouted.
"Don't open that hatch! You'll flood the whole deck!" The Lieutenant warned.
"Listen to him, Rainbow! You are going to get us all killed!" Twilight said in horror.
"No way! I'm getting out of this tin can and no one's gonna stop me!" Rainbow disagreed.
The soldiers then grabbed her rear legs and pulled her down but the pegasus started punching them in their gas-masked faces. Though her friends told her to stop, Rainbow kept fighting back the humans trying to pin her down. She only stopped when she felt something hit the back of her head hard, causing her to get dizzy and fall to the metallic floor. It turned out to be the Lieutenant who grabbed a rifle (SMLE No. 1 Mk III*) from one of the soldiers and hit Rainbow in the head with the rifle's stock. When Rainbow came to, she turned to the Lieutenant with an angry look on her face while rubbing the back of her head.
"Ow! That was a dirty trick," Rainbow moaned in pain.
"If you endanger this ship and her crew, we'll use whatever means to subdue you," the Lieutenant said.
"Why you little-"
Rainbow's sentence was cut short when the Lieutenant cocked his rifle and aimed it right at her head, making the pegasus sweat in fear.
"This is your last warning, ma'am. Calm down and don't cause any more trouble or I'll blow your head off," the Lieutenant threatened.
The last part made Rainbow's face turn pale while her friends gasped in horror. Though Twilight didn't like Rainbow's recklessness and hasty actions, she couldn't stand anyone threatening her friends' lives. So she stepped in to prevent the situation from escalating any further.
"Sir, please! You made your point. There is no need to resort to such extremes. I apologize on my friend's behalf for her actions and promise she won't cause you any more trouble," Twilight pleaded.
Luckily, the Lieutenant nodded and pulled his rifle away from Rainbow's head who sighed in relief. After he gave the rifle back to the soldier he loaned it from, the Lieutenant turned back to the six mares.
"Before we take you to your quarters, we must first take certain precautions to ensure you pose no threat to us," the Lieutenant said.
Then he snapped his fingers and another soldier came to the scene, carrying two platinum-colored rings that he gave to the Lieutenant. The next thing he did was gently put the rings on Twilight and Rarity's horns who didn't resist since both of them already suspected what the rings were for.
"As you may have already guessed, these rings disable your magic and prevent you from casting spells or using telekinesis as long as they're on your horns. They're also made so only the person who put them on can remove them," the Lieutenant explained.
"How long do we have to wear these, sir?" Twilight asked.
"Indeed. As much as I love jewelry, I still wish to use my telekinesis to perform my tasks," Rarity added.
"We'll take them off once you have proven that you can be trusted. Please understand that this is only to ensure the safety of the crew and security on this ship. Now, please follow me," the Lieutenant said.
Knowing that they couldn't argue with that, the girls merely nodded as they followed the Lieutenant with the soldiers behind them. But they quickly stopped when the Lieutenant opened a metal box on the wall, revealing a telephone. After rolling a handle a couple of times, he then put the phone on his ear.
"Sir, this is the Lieutenant. Yes, sir, we got all of them. We're bringing them to their quarters now, sir. Yes, sir, I understand," the Lieutenant said.
"Hmm, fascinating. Must be part of the ship's internal communication system and works similarly to the crystal balls we use for long-range communication. And to think they do this without magic makes it even more intriguing," Twilight said.
"Who do you think he was talking to?" Applejack asked.
"To their captain, I think. Hmm, I wonder when we are going to meet him," Twilight replied.
Once he finished his call with the captain, the Lieutenant signaled the mares to follow him and the group moved on. It wasn't long until they reached the cabin where the Mane 6 was supposed to wait till the captain was ready to meet them. After the Lieutenant opened the door and politely told the girls to enter, they went inside the cabin which wasn't so bad. There were six bunks, a heater, air conditioning, and a bathroom, practically everything they needed for the moment.
"Here's your cabin, ladies. We'll arrange you a better one later but right now, this is the best we can do," the Lieutenant said.
"We understand, sir, and thank you. I don't mean to rush but could you tell your captain that we'd like to meet him as soon as possible," Twilight requested.
"I'll do what I can, ma'am. One more thing," the Lieutenant said.
Again he snapped his fingers and the crew brought the girls dry clothes and some carrots along with towels.
"You can take a shower in the bathroom and then put on these dry clothes. There are also some carrots for you to eat until we get more 'suitable' food for you. Until then, enjoy yourselves, ladies," the Lieutenant said.
With that, the humans then left the cabin and locked the door behind them, leaving Twilight and her friends in their thoughts. Though they didn't like being locked up like prisoners in the Canterlot dungeon, they knew they had no choice but to do as their captors said. After all, they could have killed them or left them to drown but instead, they gave them a chance to choose whether or not to join them. The girls at least owed that much. Since they could do nothing but wait, the girls decided to pass the time by first taking a shower, especially Rarity who felt her bath was long overdue.
"Well, I'm certainly in need of a shower. If you don't mind, I will go first," Rarity requested.
"We don't mind at all, Rarity. And take your time, just don't shower too long," Twilight approved.
"Why, thank you, darling. And don't worry, it won't take more than 20 minutes," Rarity said.
As they were getting themselves acquainted, Twilight and her friends could have never known that the moment they set their hooves on this miraculous underwater ship, they had embarked on a journey that would change their lives in ways they could have never imagined.
Author's Note
The second chapter was almost finished when this fic and its first chapter came out, that's why it got out so fast. I'm currently working on two more chapters for this story but they're going to take much longer to write. The reason for this is mostly because I'm also working on other stories I haven't published yet and also because my studies take most of my time. I don't know when the next chapter will come but I'll write as much and as often as I can. See ya ;)
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Aboard The Ulysses
Once the girls had all showered, the first thing they did was eat the carrots the crew gave them, all of them disappearing into the mares' greedy mouths since none of them had eaten anything since their ship sunk. Once they had all eaten, Twilight and her friends tried the new clothes they had been given which turned out to be green army jackets with the same red A-like symbols on shoulders and brown army boots for rear hooves.
Rarity couldn't help but notice that the jackets were made of a material she was not familiar with. They were soft as silk and yet were not made of silk but something similar. Upon closer inspection, Rarity could have sworn that the material used to make these jackets was from the sea, but she couldn't be sure. The clothes were surprisingly comfortable and though they didn't wear any clothing often, Twilight and the others figured that they had to get used to it since they were going to stay in the submarine for a while.
As the hours passed, the girls were starting to get impatient. Especially Rainbow who still didn't like being locked up in a cabin inside a submarine deep underwater.
"*Groans* Just how much longer before those creeps let us out of this box? I can't stand being cooped up down here," Rainbow said as she paced around the cabin.
"Please calm down, darling," Rarity said.
"Calm down? How can I calm down when we're being kept here against our will?!" Rainbow asked angrily.
"That's enough, Rainbow! Being angry all the time won't do any good. Besides, this is not as bad as you think. We were given food and clothes which proves the crew of this ship cares for our well-being," Twilight reasoned.
"No, Twilight. This is much worse and we're still prisoners so don't forget it," Rainbow argued.
To prove her claim, the hot-tempered pegasus walked to the cabin's door and tried to get it open but it wouldn't budge. She even tried hitting it but all it gave her was a hoof turned red from sudden pain.
"Ouch! See? I can't open this bucking door which is probably locked from outside. It further proves that these guys don't want us to return to Equestria," Rainbow said while rubbing her hurt hoof.
"Rainbow, we know how you feel and we're worried as well but this isn't going to help. Our only hope is to talk to the captain, earn his trust, and then convince him to let us go," Twilight reasoned.
"What?! You want to make friends with these murderers just because they have a nice underwater ship? Guys! They've been blowing up our ships and killing ponies over the past year for Celestia's sake!" Rainbow yelled.
"Keep your voice down, Dash! We know what they've been doing and don't like it either. But we tried to stop them with guns blazing and it failed, so now we try talking instead," Applejack argued.
"AJ is right. The use of force didn't work so now our only option is diplomacy. Besides, think of all the benefits if we befriend this ship's captain," Twilight reasoned.
"So you want him as a friend just so you could study this rusty tin can in the name of science? Oh give me a break," Rainbow muttered.
"This ship is more than that, it is a scientific miracle, a submarine! Up until now, no working submarine have ever been built but these people have. Aren't you at least a little bit amazed that we're now traveling underwater?" Twilight asked.
Sadly, all it did was make Rainbow even more furious.
"Well, that does it! I'm getting off this submarine and no one's gonna stop me!" Rainbow yelled in anger.
Just then, a loud knocking came from behind the door. The girls turned to the door and saw the Lieutenant, along with a few soldiers, enter the cabin. After clearing his throat, the Lieutenant spoke up.
"The Captain is now ready to see you. If you would please follow me, I will take you to him," the Lieutenant said.
Sadly, the second the path to the opened door was clear, the rainbow-maned pegasus spread her wings and took off the floor.
"Hey! Stop!" The Lieutenant yelled.
"Rainbow! Don't do it!" Twilight yelled after her friend.
Rainbow, however, wouldn't stop and immediately took flight. She didn't get far, though, when someone behind the corner hit her muzzle with a spanner, causing the pegasus to roll around and fall onto her back on the metal floor.
"Ow! My nose!" Rainbow moaned in pain while holding her bleeding nose.
"Rainbow! You alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked as she rushed to her friend's side.
"Define okay!" Rainbow yelled. "Just who the heck did that dirty trick anyway?"
"That would be me, ma'am."
The ponies turned to the source of the voice who turned out to be another human dressed in the same uniform as his fellow crewmen except he had some tools on his belt and held a spanner in his right hand. It didn't take a genius to figure that he was the one who hit Rainbow with a spanner to foil her escape attempt.
"You should know, ma'am, never run in the corridors. You never know where you might hit your nose," the human said sarcastically.
"Oh, I'll tell you where I'll hit next. It will be your face!" Rainbow said angrily, still holding her nose.
"Whoa, you're so forward. You shouldn't kiss on the first date but I suppose there's no harm in that," the human joked.
This caused Rainbow's face to turn as red as a tomato out of embarrassment. The girls couldn't help but giggle at Rainbow's reaction which made the pegasus feel even more humiliated. Then the next thing the human did was show a first aid kit he had been hiding behind his back the whole time.
"Don't worry, ma'am. I'll patch you up," the human said.
"This is so humiliating," Rainbow thought.
Once Dash's bleeding but luckily not broken nose was taken care of, the girls followed the Lieutenant and his crewmen out from their cabin to wherever they were taking them. Just like earlier, they walked through many corridors and admired what they were seeing even though there wasn't much to see, at least not right now. They kept on walking until they stopped at a cabin door decorated with gold which Twilight assumed was the captain's quarters. When they entered, however, the girls' eyes widened in wonder.
The room had a lot of space and looked like one the royals used. There were several bookcases filled with hundreds of books and several aquariums containing rare fish and priceless specimens from every corner of the ocean, most of them what Twilight had never seen before in her whole life. What caught Rarity's interest, naturally, were the decorations such as red drapes and carpets with a golden A-like symbol on them and furniture decorated with gold. All of it gave the girls an impression that the sub's captain certainly lived like a king.
"*Gasps* This is so fabulous!" Rarity admired, feeling almost fainting.
"Holy Apples! This guy certainly lives like a prince," Applejack awed.
"Nah, I've seen better," Rainbow commented.
Twilight, though, was naturally drawn to the books she was just dying to read, especially since most of them seemed to be about science and marine biology.
"This is amazing! There are so many books here to fill a whole library. I can only imagine what new knowledge is written in these beautiful books," Twilight said in joy, feeling like she'd been given the best birthday present.
"Look at these fish. They're so beautiful," Fluttershy said, admiring brown and white striped fish with spikes.
"I don't know, Flutters. Those spikes don't look inviting," Applejack said, wary.
"Ooh, that is one big nice ruby," Pinkie said.
The moment she said the word "ruby", Rarity instantly hurried to the party pony's side to admire what was likely the biggest ruby she had ever seen.
"*Gasps* Oh what a beautiful gem. I feel like I'm going to cry," Rarity said, feeling tears of happiness forming in her eyes.
Then, out of nowhere, the Mane 6 was a little startled when they heard music, piano music specifically. But their startled hearts were soon warmed up by the beautiful music played pretty well by whoever was playing it (The ending music from the Stargate Universe final episode "Gauntlet").
Turning their eyes to the end of the room, they saw a human male playing piano. He had the same army green trench coat uniform except he didn't wear a helmet or gas mask. From the looks of it, the girls guessed that he must be the captain.
"Awe, what a beautiful music," Rarity admired, her hooves pressed to her chest.
"A funny time to play piano, don't you think?" Pinkie asked.
"Please be quiet, Pinkie dear. I want to listen," Rarity said politely.
"Oh, I'm scared. Who is it?" Fluttershy asked, shaking.
"Don't be afraid, Flutters. I'm sure we're about to find out," Applejack said, calming her friend down.
"This must be the guy responsible for holding us all prisoner. Well, I wanna have a few words with him," Rainbow said, cracking her hooves.
"Me too. I have so many questions for him about his amazing ship," Twilight said, making Rainbow groan.
The girls quietly walked close to the captain but dared not interrupt him and also preferred to listen to him playing piano for the moment. Though she couldn't tell, Twilight felt that the captain seemed to know they were standing behind him despite not hearing them or turning his head. The princess soon felt that it was time for introductions so she cleared her throat.
"Ahem, good day to you, sir. Now if you allow me to introduce myself?" Twilight greeted.
The man then stopped playing and turned to face the six mares. He was a Caucasian man in his forties with light brown hair and blue eyes, he also seemed to have shaved recently since he didn't have any beard.
"I know exactly who you are, Princess Sparkle. As I do your friends the Element Bearers. As I'm sure you will find out, I'm in the habit of getting to know my guests very well indeed," the Captain said with a manly yet gentle voice.
"And who are you, sir?" Twilight asked.
After getting up from his seat and clearing his throat, the captain introduced himself.
"I'm John Sumner, captain of this state-of-the-art high-tech submarine, Ulysses ," Sumner said, telling his name and rank.
"So this ship is indeed a submarine?" Twilight asked in awe.
"Indeed it is, princess. But it is much more than that. Not only is this a submarine, but it is also the most advanced one in the whole world," Sumner confirmed.
"I have so many technical questions about your ship, Captain Sumner," Twilight said with stars in her eyes.
"And I will be more than happy to answer all of your questions. But before that, I'd like to introduce you to certain people," Sumner said, pointing behind them.
The Mane 6 turned to the two humans behind them who removed their helmets and gas masks, revealing a Caucasian man in his thirties with dark brown hair and green eyes whom they knew as the Lieutenant and another Caucasian man in his twenties with a black hair and green eyes who foiled Rainbow's escape attempt with a spanner earlier.
"May I introduce Lieutenant Jason Connor, my first officer. And Jake O'Neill, my chief mechanic and engineer," Sumner said, introducing his officers.
"It is a pleasure to properly meet you, princess, ladies," Jason said with a warm smile.
"Yeah, same here," Jake added.
"Now that the introductions are over, I'm ready for your questions, ladies," Sumner said.
"Oh, sir. Where did you find that marvelous gem and where can I find one?" Rarity asked, pointing at the ruby.
"And what are those beautiful fish you have, sir?" Fluttershy added.
"That gem is a flawless uncut ruby I found deep in the heart of the Celestial Sea and so far the only known sample, Miss Rarity. I call it ' Ignis' which means 'fire' in Latin. As for your question, Miss Fluttershy. Those fish are 'Pterois Volitans' , the Lionfish. They're beautiful but venomous so I advise you to keep your distance," Sumner explained.
"Oh, I almost forgot. What is this material you used to make these clothes?" Rarity asked.
"*Chuckles* Trust a lady to notice. The material of the clothes you wear is Byssus, the natural thread the fan muscles use to adhere themselves to rocks and any other solid surface," Sumner answered.
"How does this ship work, captain? What powers it? And how were you able to build something of this magnitude where the others had failed?" Twilight asked.
"I'm afraid explaining all of it at once would take a very long time, princess. So I'm going to take you on a tour to show you every part of the Ulysses . But before I do, I'd like to show you something," Sumner said.
He then pulled a lever on the wall and opened the metal shield that covered a huge window from inside the ship, revealing the sight no pony had ever seen before, the very bottom of the sea. Letting out gasps, the Mane 6 watched in wonder at the amazing sight.
"Behold, the sight never before seen by ponykind. The very bottom of the sea itself, a place where there is total freedom," Sumner said.
"Captain, this is truly a miraculous sight," Twilight admired.
"You got that right, Twi," Applejack agreed.
"It is so wonderful," Rarity added.
"You know. Even though I feel like a goldfish in a bowl, this is still fun," Pinkie said.
"I'm so excited to see what sea creatures are out there," Fluttershy added.
Rainbow on the other hand was not as excited as her friends were.
"Oh, buck. So we really are underwater, meaning there's no way out of this tin can. Well, I'm gonna get out of here someday somehow even if it's the last thing I do," Rainbow thought.
When they were done admiring, Sumner closed the shield and turned to his equine guests.
"Now, let us begin our tour," Sumner said.
Later
To say that Twilight was twilighting again for big time was an understatement of the year. The princess was greatly fascinated by the technology of the Ulysses , especially when she learned that all of it was achieved without any sort of magic. To think that humans were able to create such a scientific marvel without magic amazed Twilight. But it also made her wonder: Were ponies "stuck" in a "medieval" status in their progress because of their reliance on magic?
It turned out that the submarine was powered by electricity, generated directly from the sea. Everything on the Ulysses was electric. Lights, heat, air compressor, even the kitchen where the crew made fresh water out of seawater. Apparently, the Ulysses was originally made to run on coal until it was equipped with experimental sodium/mercury batteries to power the submarine. Something about there being an endless amount of Sodium in the seawater which provided an endless supply of energy for the Ulysses .
The next stop was the bridge where the crew controlled the ship, adjusted the speed and depth, and communicated with different parts of the ship via radio and telephones. Then Sumner took them to the part of the sub where they stored their vehicles. Not only were Sumner and his crew able to travel underwater, but they could also fly thanks to the vehicles called airplanes. There were also numerous types of ground vehicles like cars that ran on combustion engines instead of being pulled by steeds.
Finally, Sumner showed them the submarine's defense system which was the most advanced and sophisticated in the whole world. The Ulysses was armed with 12 torpedo launchers that were installed on four external ball turrets, each one operated by one gunner. The sub also had a strong armor that could withstand strong impacts and several hits from cannon balls as Twilight and her friends had witnessed.
The Ulysses carried two types of submersible vehicles onboard. The first was 24 small submersible assault vehicles called Sub-Pods that acted as the sub's underwater fighter squadron that was launched downward from 12 bays on each side of the sub. The second was four underwater vehicles called Aqua-Evacs stored in the rear ventral bay, acting as lifeboats to evacuate the crew should the submarine sink.
The Sub-Pods were manned by two people, one to pilot the vehicle and another to operate the weaponry which were eight torpedoes, with four mounted on each wing on both sides of the vehicle. Though the Aqua-Evacs served as lifeboats to evacuate the crew, they were mostly used to carry a part of the crew along with supplies and several vehicles ashore or areas too small for the Ulysses to reach.
And of course, the crew had a lot of guns, ammunition, and explosives onboard, stored in the sub's armory. Sumner and his crew used several types of firearms such as pistols, rifles, machine guns, etcetera. It also included mortars, cannons, and some special weapons the crew used under the "special" circumstances.
But the most vital part of the Ulysses was the deck where the food, water, ammunition, clothes, everything the crew needed was made. The sub had several farms and gardens where they grew their food, a slaughterhouse and aquarium where they got their meat (much to Fluttershy's horror), and small factories where the ammo and clothes were made.
As for the crew, it consisted mainly of soldiers and sailors Sumner personally recruited back on Earth but there were also engineers, workers, medics, and cooks. The crew was completely loyal and devoted to their captain who treated them like family and always looked after them.
Once the tour was over, Sumner took the girls to the dining room where his chefs had brought their lunch. As they sat down, Twilight noticed yet another A-like symbol on the wall. With curiosity kicking in again, she turned to the captain to ask about it.
"Excuse me, captain, but what is that symbol on the walls and on your uniforms? I figured they represent you and your ship but what does it stand for?" Twilight asked.
"It is Lambda, also known as the Spartan symbol. I chose it because like the 300 Spartan hoplites who held for three days against thousands of enemies, me and my crew of 150 travel alone against overwhelming and sometimes impossible odds," Sumner answered.
"That's amazing! I hope you have a book regarding that part of your history," Twilight said in awe.
"Indeed I do and I'd be more than happy to lend you that book. Now, please eat. I hope the food will suit you," Sumner said.
The food did indeed suit the Mane 6. The girls were served steamed vegetables and spinach soup while the captain and his officers had a meal called "Fish & Chips". Of course, Twilight and Rarity had difficulties eating without their magic but Jason was kind enough to remove the rings from their horns to allow them to use their telekinesis to eat their meals. As they were eating, the Mane 6 still had some questions for Sumner.
"Captain Sumner. Now that we know each other to some degree, I must ask you: Where do you and your crew come from and how did you get to our world?" Twilight asked.
"It is a long story, princess, but since we have time, I will tell you. If you're wondering, my crew and I are not from the human world you visited through the mirror portal. We are humans ourselves, yes, but we didn't come from that world. We came from another one," Sumner answered.
"But how? How did you get here without the mirror portal or anything to transport yourself and your entire ship?" Twilight asked.
"I'm getting there. My crew and I come from the world called Earth where the year was 1929 when we left. The Ulysses was built by the company called 'Whitmore Industries' that tasked me to test run it, which I gladly accepted," Sumner explained.
As the captain was telling his story, the rest of the Mane 6, including Rainbow Dash, stopped eating and eagerly listened.
"Once we had tested the ship in every way possible, we were returning to New York until we ended up in the place called 'Bermuda Triangle' which is home to some of the most bizarre phenomenons. There, we encountered an anomaly in the Triangle's center that magnetically drew our vessel into it and transported us here to your world when we passed through," Sumner continued.
"An anomaly? An actual natural phenomenon that can transport things to different worlds sounds so fascinating," Twilight said.
"Indeed. Anyway, we soon found out that the anomaly appears only in rare conditions which doesn't happen every day. Facing the possibility that we may never return home, we embraced this new world and have roamed its seas ever since. It has been five years now, but we still monitor the sea for the anomaly," Sumner finished.
Twilight and her friends (except Rainbow) felt very sad for Sumner and his crew. The idea of being trapped in another world with very little hope of one day returning home for years was so heartbreaking. Then, Twilight had an idea.
"Captain, I may have an idea," Twilight said.
"Hmm? What is it?" Sumner asked.
"If I could study the anomaly and everything you know about it. It might be possible to use our magic to artificially create one and send you home," Twilight suggested.
"Is that even possible? You could use your magic to create an anomaly to send us home?" Sumner asked, his eyes widened.
"I believe it can be done. It won't be easy of course if the anomaly you came through has specific characteristics and certain conditions but we could do it, in theory," Twilight answered.
Sadly, before Twilight could continue, Rainbow's "internal boiler" exploded and unleashed all the anger she had bottled up. An angry pegasus then hit her hooves on the table, much to her friends' shock, and stared angrily at the captain.
"Alright, enough with the nice talk! What I'd like to know is why you've taken us prisoner, captain. Why you've been blowing up our ships and killing ponies this past year? And you better have a good answer you bucking murderer!" Rainbow yelled angrily.
Twilight and the others were horrified by Rainbow's outburst. Though Twilight feared what the captain might do, she was very disappointed in Rainbow for doing something so reckless that could put all their lives in danger.
"Rainbow! You stupid reckless idiot! What do you think you're doing, provoking the captain like that?!" Twilight thought.
Jake was taken aback by the outburst while Jason had his right hand on top of the holster, ready to draw out his pistol (Luger P08) if Rainbow showed another sign of aggression. Sumner, however, seemed unaffected by Rainbow's outburst, as if he expected it to happen at some point. The captain's gentle and manly voice then turned calm but serious when he answered Rainbow's question.
"First of all, I prefer you and your friends as guests, Miss Dash," Sumner answered.
"Oh yeah? And just what're you going to do with us, captain?" Rainbow asked.
"Since your ship attacked mine, you're technically prisoners of war, but I have decided to treat you with hospitality. You are free to go wherever you like inside the Ulysses , but you'll never be allowed to leave," Sumner said.
This made Rainbow grit her teeth in anger while her friends gasped.
"What?! You expect us to stay in this rusty tin can for the rest of our lives? No way in Tartarus, pal! If you think that I'm going to give you my word not to escape-"
"I do not ask for it. There is no escape. And whoever enters the Ulysses can never quit it except in one manner," Sumner said.
"And what's that?" Rainbow asked.
"Death," Sumner answered.
Once again five of the Mane 6 gasped in horror while Rainbow's fur turned pale.
"What?! You're telling me that we either stay here or die?" Rainbow asked.
"Exactly. You'll either remain in my ship for the rest of your lives or face death. Simple as that," Sumner said.
This time, Twilight felt the need to intervene.
"But why? Why do you resort to such cruelty and extremity?" Twilight asked.
"The reason my crew and I have survived for so long is because we have remained hidden from the world. So I'm in the policy of leaving no witnesses to tell anyone of our existence. You ladies should feel lucky that I decided to give you a chance to join my crew instead of having all of you shot on sight," Sumner explained.
The last statement made all mares gulp and could tell that the captain was deadly serious.
"As for why I have destroyed the ships of your navy, I have my reasons, both strategic and personal. But all I'm willing to tell you at this point is that it was mainly for self-defense since all the ships that I've destroyed shot first and I never fire the first shot," Sumner said.
"That's bull! You expect us to believe that you've been blowing up our ships for self-defense?!" Rainbow asked angrily.
"Believe what you want but it won't change anything. My crew and I will do whatever it takes to survive, even go to war with Equestria if necessary," Sumner said.
Taken aback by the last part, the girls felt horrified that Sumner and his men were willing to even wage war against Equestria if it meant living to see another day.
"Now, if you are to stay on my ship, there are a few rules you need to follow. First, do not cause any trouble or you'll end up in a brig for a week. Second, when I'm engaged in private work, you'll be confined to your cabin. Third, you are not to endanger this ship nor her crew for a punishment for it will be severe. Lastly, while I cannot let you go, there is one thing that might change that," Sumner explained.
Sparking the ponies' interest, the girls gave the captain their full attention.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"I can't let you go because I don't want our existence to be revealed. However, if you prove that you can be trusted, not only to keep our existence a secret but also to help us to get home when the time comes, I may consider letting you go," Sumner said.
A thousand thoughts ran through the girls' heads as they processed what they were told. Twilight felt that they had been given an opportunity too good to pass. If she could befriend the captain and earn his trust, it would open a lot of new possibilities, she could only imagine the benefits of having him as a friend. Convincing him to let them go by proving their trustfulness was her priority, of course, but right now, Twilight wanted to remain on the Ulysses and explore the extraordinary new world Captain Sumner wanted to show them.
Applejack and Rarity felt the same as Twilight, not to mention a voyage around the world underwater sounded so exciting. Pinkie wanted to arrange parties for the crew and Fluttershy was eager to see what kind of animals lived beneath the sea.
But Rainbow didn't like it at all. She couldn't stand the idea of being stuck in this underwater prison for who knows how long. For all she knew, they could be here for the rest of their lives regardless of the captain's promises. She needed to find a way to escape, a way for her and her friends to get home. But for now, Rainbow would go along with this and wait till an opportunity would present itself.
Checking the time from his pocket watch, Sumner cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, ladies, but I must now return to my duties. Lieutenant Connor will escort you to your new quarters. Have pleasant dreams," Sumner said politely.
"Thank you, captain, and good night," Twilight said, bowing.
With that, Sumner and Jake headed to the bridge while Jason escorted the Mane 6 to their new cabin which happened to be on the opposite side of the Captain's quarters. Upon entering, the girls could see that their new cabin was a whole lot better than the first one. It had nearly all the luxuries the captain did, was big enough to house six comfortable beds, and there was a telephone on the wall.
"These are your new quarters. The captain had it prepared during the tour. I hope you like it," Jason said.
"Awe, darling, it is lovely. I certainly love it," Rarity said.
"Well, I know I will sleep well tonight," Applejack agreed.
"*Yawns* Me too. I'm so sleepy after a long day," Fluttershy added.
"Anyway. If you need anything, just call either me or Jake will come," Jason said.
"Thank you, lieutenant. Good night," Twilight said.
Jason nodded and closed the door as he left, leaving the girls in their new cabin. Since they didn't have any strength left to stay awake, the girls decided to call for the day and go to sleep. And with the beds being like where the princesses or nobility slept, it didn't take long for the girls to fall asleep. As they began to dream, Twilight and her friends didn't yet fully realize that the greatest adventure of their lives had just begun.
Author's Note
Hi, I'm back again with another, and so far, my favorite chapter of the story. As you may have noticed, I made some changes to the Ulysses like running on electricity instead of coal.
My OCs who I now introduced are my own characters but their faces are inspired by the following characters from different franchises.
John Sumner/Captain Toni (from Mass Effect: Paragon Lost)
This is what they will look like in all of my stories. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. See you ;)
