I know the prologue is a little human-centric, but that's the only way the story really works. I encourage readers to continue through the whole story before making comments.
Still, your likes and comments are appreciated. And I still don't own the story.
Chapter 1
It was late morning in Manehattan, and already the city was alive with activity. The Pegasi had been working since the early cracks of dawn clearing the sky, and all that remained of the usually heavy cloud cover were a few small clouds clinging to the horizon. Down in the city proper, ponies went about their daily business, opening shops, attending social gatherings, and making the city live up to its reputation as one of the most cosmopolitan cities in all of Equestria.
In a small field right outside the city, the grass began to wave as a small white ball materialized. The ball grew in size, kicking up a cloud of dust before flashing out of existence, leaving six ponies collapsed in a heap in the center of the field. The pony at the bottom of the pile, a lavender unicorn, opened one of her eyes to make sure they had landed in the right place.
“Yes!” Twilight Sparkle shouted, bouncing up on her hooves and throwing her friends to the ground. A twang of regret and concern rippled through her, but the sheer joy of actually having a spell like this one work was overwhelming. “The spell worked this time! We made it!”
“While I have nothing against your enthusiasm, Twilight, I simply cannot recall that spell kicking up so much… dust.” Rarity visibly shook at the mere mention of dust. She had gotten less obsessive over dirt since her sleepover with Twilight and Applejack, but she was still very resistant to anything that had the slightest chance of involving getting dirty; it had taken Applejack nearly two days to convince Rarity to go with them to Appleoosa, and she spent a fair amount of time on the trip there complaining.
“Sorry, Rarity. This is the first time I’ve actually had a mass teleport work properly.” Twilight smiled “But I’m sure that I can eliminate the dust when we go home!”
“Oh, I have no doubt that you can.” The two looked back at the others. The remaining four ponies were getting back to their feet and dusting themselves off. Applejack trotted over to one side of the field to fetch her hat while Fluttershy stood rigid, staring at the city.
“What’s the matter, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy tended to lock up when scared, but Twilight could not remember if she was scared of big cities.
“N-nothing… it was just so… so… sudden.”
“Well, teleportation spells do have that effect on ponies. You’ll get used to it after awhile.”
“Oh… okay, i-if you think so. I-I think I can.”
“That was totally awesome!” Rainbow Dash said, landing next to Twilight “We’ve got to do this more often, Twilight! I mean, I like flying better than teleporting, but you got us all here at once; that’s way better than having to wait for everypony to catch up… speaking of flying, I better get started on some of those moves I prepared last week.” Rainbow Dash took off and started flying towards the city, before stopping abruptly in mid air and slamming into the ground.
“Hold on there, Rainbow,” Applejack said, spitting Rainbow Dash’s tail out of her mouth “We can’t all just go runnin’ off like that.”
“Applejack’s right; if we split up then it will take forever to meet back up for the trip home. What we need to do is plan ahead and make sure we all know where everypony else is going to be.”
“Well, we don’t necessarily have to know exact locations, Twilight.” Rarity said “We could just agree to meet somewhere in, say, four hours, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about anypony being left behind… not that I would mind, that is; there were about half a dozen different art galleries that drew my attention, but I couldn’t possibly go to them in one-”
“Okay, I have an idea; Princess Celestia said there was a restaurant down by the waterfront that she and Princess Luna used to go to when they were fillies. We can meet up there in a couple of hours.”
“The waterfront ain’t too far for Aunt and Uncle Orange’s place,” Applejack said “I told them I’d stop by for a visit sometime… guess it’ll cut down on time.”
“Oh, the waterfront,” Fluttershy had snapped out of her state of shock at the mentioning of the waterfront “I heard about a huge seal colony over there, and we don’t get many seals in Ponyville… oh, I wish I brought more fish; I was only thinking of all the alligators they have in the sewer that I forgot about the seals. They won’t be too happy if I didn’t bring them anything.” The Pegasus started to get worried “M-maybe I should go somewhere else… i-if you don’t mind, that is.”
“Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy; I’m sure you’ll have more than enough food for the animals here.” Twilight said.
“You… you really think so?”
“Of course.”
“Oh… okay then.”
“Are we done with all this talking?” Rainbow Dash said “My brain’s about to give out.”
“Yes Rainbow; just remember that-” Twilight had not even finished thinking about what to say next before Rainbow Dash was gone, the sky-blue Pegasus just a small blur over the city. The rest of the group began to move off; Applejack was showing Fluttershy the way to the largest park in Manehattan, and Rarity was monologuing to herself about some kind of fabric that was sold exclusively in the city.
That just left Twilight and Pinkie Pie standing alone in the field.
“Pinkie? You haven’t said a word since we got here. What are you-?” Twilight stopped when she saw Pinkie. The bubblegum-pink earth pony had her mouth filled with half eaten cupcakes, and there was a fairly large box lying on the ground that had only five cupcakes left. Pinkie swallowed before speaking.
“I was going to tell you about this earlier but then you started talking and I figured that since you like talking it’d be rude to interrupt but anyway Mrs. Cake wanted me to take a bunch of these new cupcakes she made and pass them out to ponies here and see if they liked them and then I’d go back to Mrs. Cake and say who liked them and why and she’d work the whole thing through and then they’d be the most super amazing cupcakes anypony’s ever tasted and-”
“Pinkie! Slow down; you lost me at ‘new cupcakes’.”
“How could I lose you? You’re standing right there.” Pinkie gave Twilight a smile. Twilight looked at the box and back at Pinkie.
“Were you planning on only having five cupcakes to sample?”
“When you guys were talking, I got hungry. Ooh, there’s some new ponies now!” Pinkie picked up the box and bounced over to a trio of ponies settling down for a picnic. Twilight watched her go and made her way towards Manehattan.
It’s close to lunchtime back in Ponyville; I should probably get Spike that slice of pizza he wanted. Good thing he loaned me some of his dragonfire, or else I’d never be able to get it to him on- Twilight stopped, puzzled. Her horn had started to tingle and give off small pulses of magic. Twilight had first felt something similar to this after Princess Celestia had calmed her down when she first tapped her magical energy and got her cutie mark; the princess had said that it meant that there was an influx of magic nearby, and since rogue power surges were incredibly dangerous it was the duty of all unicorns to find the source and control it before it got out of hand and hurt somepony. Twilight was about to use her magic to locate the surge when it stopped, winking out as quickly as it had come.
“That was odd,” she said “Somepony must have gotten to the power surge before I did… I’ll have to tell Princess Celestia about it when I get back to Ponyville.” She set that train of thought aside and trotted into Manehattan.
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Pinkie had never been to a lot of really big cities like Manehattan, and now that she had the privilege to finally visit one she was loving every minute of it. The pony bounced down the streets, occasionally running over to and squishing her nose up against different shop windows. Pinkie was never much of a shopper, except when the object in question was food or prank items, and Manehattan had tons of stores selling just that. Pinkie continued her happy bounce down the streets, carrying two bags full of various pranks and munching on a salt covered pretzel.
Halfway down one street, she stopped in the middle of the road and began to shake uncontrollably. None of the bags fell, but she almost lost the pretzel. She stopped shaking for a moment and looked down.
There’s a doozy on the way? She thought before her “Pinkie Sense” kicked back in and she shook some more. Down by the waterfront? Oh no, we’re going to be down there! She looked around to find somepony that could help before she shook again. Wait… at sea? We’re not going to sea, so whatever the doozy is, it won’t happen to us right away. I’ll just tell Twilight when I see her again. The Pinkie Sense had cut out for now, and the pink pony continued to bounce down the streets.
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Equestria relied on sea trade a lot more than one would believe. There were territories and countries so far away that teleportation by unicorns (except for the royal pony sisters, but Celestia and Luna never left Equestria as much as they used to) was impossible. Schooners ran up and down the coast, carrying goods from places like the zebra homelands back to ports like Manehattan. There was little danger, except for the odd raid from the Diamond Dogs or an annoyed sea serpent, so most ponies that took to the sea enjoyed it immensely. Huge trading families had developed from the voyages, and nautical trade was considered one of the best ways to get ahead in Equestria.
The schooner Sea Swirl was sailing towards Manehattan, its hold full of items from the zebra homelands. This did nothing to slow its speed, and the schooner was making great time. The sailor ponies were taking the time to relax a little, allowing the wind to carry the ship north towards home.
The ship’s captain, a green and blue unicorn by the name of Sea Strider, stood at the bow of the ship. He had been around ships for most of his life, yet sailing still held enough mystery and excitement to keep him from getting bored. This was actually his second ship (he had sold his first to buy this one) and he cared for it as much as he did the pony it was named after.
“Hey boss.” Sea Strider turned and saw his first mate, a lanky Pegasus, fluttering just behind him. “When’s our next run?”
“Not for a couple of weeks once we get back to Manehattan. Once we sell the stuff and get paid I’m giving everypony some time off; you all deserve it as much as the next pony.”
“Alright then. I had some friends from Cloudsdale that wanted a tour of Manehattan. You know the city better than I do; do you want to go with us?”
“Can’t, I told Sea Swirl we’d have dinner when I got back… amongst other things.” The Pegasus backed up.
“Hey Strider, don’t get me involved in any of that personal stuff. I got bucked in the face by my last fillyfriend when I got messed up in somepony’s relationships.”
“You missed a great trip to the zebra homelands. I almost got to be an honorary member of one of the clans we met.”
“How? You suck at rhyming anything.”
“That’s why I said ‘almost’.”
“Boss,” one of his other crewmembers said “I think you should see this.” Sea Strider followed the sailor pony to the starboard side of the ship.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look at the water; see how it’s swirling like that?” Sea Strider looked. About a hundred yards away from the ship there was a patch of turbulence in the ocean. Curious, Sea Strider used some of his magic to scan the disturbance. What he got back shocked him.
“Sweet Celestia that’s a lot of magic.” He said. “Get to the helm and try to maneuver us away from the disturbance. I’d hate to think what could possibly be-” he was interrupted by the sound of rushing water. He looked back at the disturbance and saw a ship rising from the ocean. The ship was nearly twice the size of the Sea Swirl, and its three masts towered over the schooner. The ship’s deck was covered in debris and the hull was battered, and Sea Strider guessed that they might have had an encounter with Diamond Dogs or a sea serpent. But no ship he knew about could go under water.
“What do we do, boss?” the sailor pony asked.
“Their ship looks damaged; signal them and see if they need assistance. In the meantime, maintain our course.”
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Mays felt like he had been punched in the face. His head ached and he could barely move his body. He was able to open his eyes and stare up at the sky.
The Concordia had not sunk, although some of the sails were torn from the wind and waves. They were stopped, and he was sure it would take awhile before they went anywhere. Already he could hear the groans of the other sailors who had been knocked around by the waves. He tried getting up, but his body gave out from under him and he banged his head against the deck.
“Hacksaw, are you still alive?” he asked.
“I think so, captain, although I’ve certainly felt better.” The medic responded. Mays nodded and rolled over, trying to get back to his feet. He succeeded for a few second before losing his balance and falling face first into the deck.
“This might take longer than I hoped; that whirlpool threw my balance off.”
“I’m not sure if that’s all the whirlpool did.” Mays shook his head in a futile attempt to clear it before opening his eyes again.
Standing in front of him was a blue horse, a unicorn to be specific. The unicorn was heavily built and had a mark on its flanks that looked like a red cross in front of two crossed hacksaws.
“Hey Hacksaw, how did a horse get on board the ship?” he asked. The unicorn tilted its head and looked at him.
“Why don’t you tell me?” the unicorn said with Hacksaw’s voice. Mays froze, trying to comprehend what he just saw. He turned and looked over the deck, and he saw that every single crewmember had been turned into a horse of some kind. Some were not taking the change very well, while others did not seem to care all that much.
A normal person would have freaked out over the recent development, but Mays controlled himself; he was a naval officer and would not allow himself to have a complete breakdown in front of his men. That would come later when his cabin was repaired.
“So, the entire crew got turned into horses-”
“Ponies.”
“What?”
“Everyone’s too small to be a full sized horse,” the unicorn that talked like Hacksaw said “And small horses are ponies. So everyone got turned into ponies.”
“Whatever. How are we supposed to be able to sail a ship as… ponies? I mean, shooting cannons shouldn’t be that hard, but actually sailing the ship…”
“Uh, captain?” a stocky white unicorn with a thick beard and bandana said, walking up from below deck “Nolan’s freaking out again; he can’t handle being a horse.”
“Pony. Okay, go find Smith and drag Nolan to my quarters. Get the men who aren’t mad about being a pony to start cleaning up the deck, and while you’re at it tell the cooks to throw away all the salted meat we have left.”
“The boys won’t be very pleased about that.”
“I’m not even sure if we can still eat meat, and I don’t want to find out.”
“Aye captain.” Richard left to carry out his orders while Mays and Hacksaw headed below to Mays quarters.
Or what was left of them; the kraken had smashed most of the windows and destroyed anything resembling furniture, and the whirlpool had made a general mess of what was left. Fortunately, or unfortunately, one mirror still remained, so Mays was able to get a good look at himself: a white pony with a blonde mane stared back at him from the reflection. He still had his tricorne and coat, which gave him a little bit of comfort.
He turned to the sound of hooves and saw the rest of the group. Richard and Hacksaw were in the center, with a yellow Pegasus hovering to their left and a green pony on their right.
“So, any explanations?” he asked.
“The Cursed?” the Pegasus, Smith, said. Mays gave him a look.
“No, the Cursed don’t have alteration powers, and if they did I don’t think they could convert an entire ship into ponies.”
“That’s another thing,” Hacksaw said “How long are we going to be stuck like this?”
“What am I, a witchdoctor? I don’t know anything about magic; I barely even know how the whirlpools work. For all I know, we could be stuck like this forever.”
“Forever?” Nolan said. The green pony started panicking. “I can’t be stuck as a horse forever. Think of the embarrassment; Preble and all the other commanders will laugh at me. They might demote me! Oh, I couldn’t bear having to do something like manual labor for the rest of my-”
“Nolan, do us a favor and shut up right now.” the green pony listened and stopped talking. Mays turned his attention to the group at large. “I don’t know how or why we’re all ponies, but I do know this; we are sailors of the United States Navy, and we will act as such. I want to continue on, no matter what form we are in, because we are Americans, and we need to show the world that we should be respected as a military force, even if we have all been turned into ponies. Is that understood?” there was a small chorus of ayes and yeses from the four ponies.
“Good. Now I need to know how damaged the ship is. Smith, check the rudder for damage.”
“How is he going to be able to check the rudder?” Nolan asked. The other four looked at him.
“Are you blind, Nolan?” Smith said “I’m not just any old pony right now… I can fly!” with that, Smith shot through one of the holes in the wall and dove down. Mays and the others waited until Smith returned, his head soaked with water. “Rudder’s been torn away, sir. I think it was the whirlpool.”
“Get the shipwrights on it; I want to be able to steer this ship. Richard, Nolan, get the crew back to work and clean up that deck. Hacksaw, go check your patients again and see if there’s anything more you can do. Who knows, maybe because you’re a unicorn you can do some kind of magic.”
“Yes captain.” The four ponies left the room. Mays turned and looked out at the ocean.
This isn’t going to be that bad… don’t kid yourself Montana; you woke up this morning expecting an easy patrol, then the kraken attacked and you got sucked down a whirlpool and spat out the other end as a pony. Perhaps when I get back to normal this would be an interesting story and someone could perform it as a play or-
“Sail ho!” one of the sailors shouted. Apparently the crew was adjusting to being ponies faster than Mays thought they would. He trotted on deck and looked out. A small schooner was approaching slowly, and they were signaling something to the Concordia.
“I think they want to help us.” Smith said. “The ship doesn’t look armed; they’re probably traders of some kind. Maybe they know a port nearby where we can stop and repair.”
“Maybe… signal them back.” Mays turned to Richard, who had come to tell him that clearing the deck was going along smoothly. “Find the marines and tell them to get ready in case these others want to start a fight.”
“How can a pony shoot a gun?” Richard said.
“Find some way.” Mays turned his attention back to the incoming ship. Smith had sent out the distress signal and the schooner responded, several flashes of light flickering above the ship. The schooner came in closer and, to a mix of dismay and thankfulness, Mays saw that this ship too was crewed by ponies.
“Hello!” the unicorn at the head of the ship said. “My name’s Sea Strider, captain of the Sea Swirl. Are you guys alright?”
“I’m Montana Mays, captain in the United States Navy and commander of the U.S.S. Concordia. We were damaged by a whirlpool and may require some assistance.”
“United States… where’s that? Somewhere on the other side of the ocean?” Mays hit himself in the face with his right hoof. It seemed that not only had everyone been turned into ponies, but that they had been sent to a version of earth where the United States, and probably none of the other world powers, existed.
“Nowhere, it’s nowhere. But getting back to the point, our rudder was torn off and we can’t steer the ship. Can you tow us to the nearest port so we can get repairs?”
“Sure thing; Manehattan’s only a few hours away, and I have a buddy there that runs a dry-dock. We’ll get you fixed up and sailing in no time.” The schooner pulled away to get in a better position. The sailor ponies on the Sea Swirl tossed ropes to the ponies on the Concordia, and the ponies on the receiving end began to tie the two ships together. Smith and his men spread all the canvas they had, while Richard and Hacksaw threw crates of meat and piles of scrap wood overboard to lighten the load. They got under way, but the Sea Swirl’s speed was severely hampered from towing the massive warship.
“When we get to Manehattan,” Mays called over to Sea Strider “Do you think you could point us in the direction of the nearest government official?”
“Sure. I don’t know if they have a lot of jurisdiction over sea trade, but I think you could get an audience with a few ponies.”