Ponies of the Cursed Seas

by iowaforever

Chapter 10

I would have updated this sooner, but school caught up with me, not to mention the other fanfic ideas I got bombarded with distracted me... Anyway, I still own none of the characters or ships in this fic, except maybe the OCs.
WARNING: the following chapter contains drunken ponies and light ship-teasing. You have been warned.
Like, comment, and recommend. I want to know what you all think of this story

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Chapter 10

The two galleys were flanking the Concordia while Iron Spar’s flagship lead them towards the island. Rising Dawn had gone below to find somewhere comfortable to lie down and rest until the ships docked, and Mays was content to let her be alone.

Twilight and her friends, however, had plenty of questions.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were a princess?” Twilight asked.

“You never asked, and it would be inappropriate for me to go about flaunting my rank like that.”

“But if you’re a princess,” Applejack asked “How come you don’t have some fancy guards lookin’ after you?”

“It is forbidden, given my current state.”

“Forbidden to have guards?”

“In a way; it has always been tradition that the royal children like myself must spend six years living amongst the populace without royal comforts. That way we have a closer bond to our subjects once we take the throne.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Yes, there are some flaws. But I feel that I understand my fellow ponies better than if I just spent my entire life locked up in some palace dreaming of how ponies were supposed to act. Can you imagine what kind or ruler I’d be?” Rising Dawn laughed. “Besides, I probably would never met the stallion of my dreams by sitting around doing nothing.”

“But when you’re living amongst the other ponies,” Twilight asked “what do you do?”

“If you were taken out of your comfort zone and told to live in a society that you knew nothing about, what would you do?” Twilight froze; she had been placed in that same situation when Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville, and Twilight had just locked herself in the library and avoided as much contact with other ponies as possible. She was about to answer, but Rising Dawn was off on her own tangent “You integrate yourself into society; my first day out, I volunteered to be a dockworker. I... wasn’t particularly good at it; I broke my leg the next day. You certainly meet a lot of ponies when you’re in the hospital.”

“Uh... sure.”

“But enough about my life. Tell me more about Equestria; all I know are stories my mother and grandparents told me when I was a foal. What’s it like?”

“Oh, it’s just a marvelous place,” Rarity said, cutting Twilight off before she could speak “While I can’t make any comparisons to your home, I’ve always found it one of the most beautiful places ever. Not just the ponies, but all the natural sites are simply amazing... except for the Everfree Forest.”

“Big forest with a lot of monsters.” Twilight explained when she saw Rising Dawn’s confusion.

“But really, Princess,” Rarity continued “You simply must come and visit sometime; I’m sure Princess Celestia would love to meet you, and I suppose Pinkie would throw a proper party for you.”

“She might throw a party for you the second we reach dry land.” Twilight said. Rising Dawn smiled.

“I would appreciate that. No knowing what my father will do once he finds out you saved my life. With my mother’s health declining and my brothers running off on ‘adventures’, knowing that my daughter and I are safe will certainly ease his mind.”

“Ooh, does he like parties too?” Pinkie asked.

“Probably not as much as you do. He’s always been a serious pony, even when I was little. I guess administration has taken a toll on his joy.”

“Well that’s not fun. Maybe I could set something up to make him more cheerful.”

“I’m not sure if that would work.” Pinkie gave a little sigh of defeat and left the room. Rising Dawn turned to the others. “I didn’t mean to sound so pessimistic. I know she was just trying to be helpful.”

“That’s okay. You’ve been through a lot today; your nerves are probably fried.” Twilight said. Rising Dawn nodded in agreement and turned her attention to her sleeping daughter.

“I’m surprised she’s been calm.” Rising Dawn said. “I thought she would be agitated by all the ponies around her.”

“She’s just tired.” Applejack said “I remember when my sister Applebloom was born, she just slept almost a whole day.”

“I wish that I could say the same for Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said “She screamed for almost four hours the day after she was born... still, it had a nice harmony to it. Before I go any further, what are you going to name her?”

“Tradewind and I had a few ideas. I would tell you some, but I’m bound not to tell until she is properly Dedicated”

“Dedicated?”

“More traditions: every foal born must be blessed and named when the sun is at its apex. My mother told me that it was another way we showed our love for Solaris and that he would watch over everypony as long as they lived.”

“Ah, that makes sense. I think my parents did a similar ceremony for myself and Sweetie Belle.” Twilight turned to the sound of hooves and saw Smith coming towards them.

“Twilight, the captain wants to see you on deck.” the Pegasus said.

“Okay.” Twilight turned back to Rising Dawn “I’ll be back in a few minutes. There’s still so much I want to ask you about.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to be going anywhere anytime soon.” Rising Dawn gave another smile and turned back to her sleeping daughter. Twilight joined Smith and the two walked back on deck. Mays was at the helm with one of the Ponaean sailor ponies and Nolan, and Twilight could tell that Nolan was angry at something.

“But why her?” Nolan asked.

“Twilight’s the best option for our current situation, and you have no diplomatic skills whatsoever.” Mays said.

“I do have diplomatic skills; I helped mediate a truce between the Thompson’s Island garrison and the Spanish Navy.”

“By my recalling, Preble was the one who made the first call for a truce and handled most of the negotiations. You were just his yes-man.”

“I was not.”

“What’s going on here?” Twilight asked. The two naval officers looked at Twilight, Nolan with added jealousy to his already smug look and Mays with a sense of apathy.

“Twilight, I was wondering if you would like to be our ‘ambassador’ for when we reach Ponaeus.”

“Ambassador? Me?”

“It’s only until we can get resupplied.”

“But, what kind of qualifications are you looking for in an ambassador?”

“You know more about Equestria and the Princesses than I do. Also, you understand how court politics work, and you seem to be getting along nicely with Princess Dawn. You’ll be perfect.”

“But what am I supposed to do?”

“If this king asks about anything diplomatic, I’ll leave it to you to work it out.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

“See, she has no experience.” Nolan said “I would be much better suited for the task at hand.”

“You only care about yourself, Nolan. Go back to your cabin and don’t make a scene.” Nolan left without another word “That’s troubling... usually he would try to get some kind of comment in. Maybe Iron Sparr’s right and I should try to do something to restrain him.” Twilight went over all the possible ways Mays could punish Nolan, making another note that most of them ended badly for the lieutenant. She was about to say something, but decided against it.

“So, is there anything else you wanted to ask?”

“What has Rising Dawn told you about Ponaeus?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. It’s just the capital of a small conglomerate of trading ports. Nothing serious.”

“Really? Then how come they have black powder cannons and a rigid military structure while Equestria doesn’t even have a full scale army?”

“Iron Spar and Tradewind did mention excursions by the Diamond Dogs and griffons... maybe they just needed something to defend themselves better.”

“A small conglomerate probably does not require a fourth rate to defend it. A few frigates, maybe, but a fourth rate? That's just overcompensation.”

“Says the pony that spends all his time on a ship twice the size of their largest ship.”

“America was a lot bigger than Ponaeus, and I think the British pose a bigger challenge than a bunch of half-starved Diamond Dogs.”

“What do ‘British’ have anything to do with this?” Twilight had gotten used to Mays and his crew talking about places she would never be able to see, although times like this required a better explanation.

“The British had one of the best navies back in my world, so I kind of use them as a measuring stick when comparing other forces.”

“Oh... How do you see yourself?”

“In need of improvement.” Twilight gave him a weird look “It’s a big measuring stick, and I’ve got some problems of my own.” That told Twilight to stop the conversation. She liked trying to help ponies with personal problems, but Mays’ mind was alien to her. Most ponies she was capable of finding some form of common bond, usually through past experiences; being from a different, much more violent world, Mays had only sparse connections with anything Twilight had ever done.

Maybe I should try and find some kind of connection. She was about to say something, but entering Ponaeus distracted her.

While nowhere near the size of Manehattan or Canterlot, Ponaeus was still pretty impressive. The city was built into the wall of a natural harbor, with several buildings being carved out of the rock itself. Standing above all the building was a palace designed similar to Cloudsdale, with large columns and archways opening much of the building to natural sunlight. Higher still was a massive fortress, the sheer sight of which sent a shiver up Twilight’s spine. Castles like Canterlot were usually welcoming, with warm colors and only a few guards here and there to provide security. The fortress over Ponaeus, however, was grey and foreboding, and Twilight could barely make out gashes in the masonry that had been blasted away by either magic or weapons similar to the Concordia’s cannons.

“Impressive,” Mays said “If you’d actually seen the Mediterranean, I could have made a few comparisons.”

“Celestia did say she had a few spells for looking at other dimensions... Although I don’t think she would take too kindly to interdimensional tourism.”

“Call it research. Monarchs love research.”

“I thought you didn’t serve any monarchs?”

“I had expeditions to Europe. There are a lot of naturalists that come out of Europe, and joining a naval vessel is the best way to see new things. You would agree with that, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, yes I would.” Twilight looked back at Ponaeus “There’s so much about this city I want to know.”

“If the king doesn’t send us away or arrest us then you’ll have a day or two.” Mays turned away and headed across the deck. “Smith?”

“Up here, captain.” Smith said, dropping down from a nearby mast.

“You’re in charge until I get back.”

“What if you don’t come back?”

“Open fire and get use back. I thought we discussed this the last time Nolan got captured by pirates.”

“Well, it was Nolan...”

“Please, I’m already having enough problems with him.” The leading ships broke off and began to drop anchor. Since there was not enough dock space for the Concordia to fit, Mays instructed the sailor ponies to do the same. “Richard, has the larger boat been fixed?”

“I think so.”

“We’ll be taking that. Twilight, go get your friends and the princess... Might as well invite those guards that they sent over.”

“Sir, we’ll have to take the other boats then.”

“I don’t mind. Well, you have your orders, get to it.”

“Aye sir.” Smith flew over to one of the boats and began to lower it. Twilight went back below deck and found her friends again.

“Okay, we have to get moving.”

“Aw, already?” Pinkie said “Princess Dawn was just getting to the good part about her hiking accident.”

“I suppose that story can wait for a few minutes.” Rising Dawn said, rising to her hooves. Her daughter let out a whimper and went back to sleep, Rising Dawn turning to make sure the filly was secure. “Please, lead the way. I have such a bad sense of direction we’d probably get lost.”

“Okay.” The small group headed out on deck. The guards Iron Spar had sent were waiting for them, and Twilight saw that Richard was trying to coordinate a few more marines for the trip.

“Are you sure bringing more ponies is a good idea?” she asked Mays.

“I need someone to row and guard the boats. Really Twilight, for someone who prides herself in organization, you don’t think that far ahead.” That earned the captain a smack on the shoulder. “Smith, start lowering the boats.”

..................

Splitting up into the boats had lead to some issues; the guards Iron Spar had sent insisted on taking Rising Dawn themselves, but the princess had stated it would look better if she accompanied Captain Mays. One short argument later, and Mays and Twilight found themselves in one of the smaller boats surrounded by a mix of Ponaeans and marines. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had elected to fly to land so as to save room in the boats, while Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie shared the larger boat with Richard and Hacksaw.

“You seem nervous.” Rising Dawn said.

“I’ve never really met a lot of royalty besides Princess Celestia... well, there was that one dragon, but I was really young back then.”

“Dragon?” Mays asked. “You mean there’s more than just Spike?”

“Of course there’s more than just Spike. What, did you think he just came out of a hole in the ground and wanted to be my assistant?”

“The only other dragons I’ve met wanted me for lunch.” the captain muttered, turning away.

“Don’t worry. My father is nopony to be scared of.” Rising Dawn said.

“But this is the first time I’ve actually spoken to a ruler of a country that wasn’t my mentor... What if I screw something up? What if I start a war?”

“I’m sure it won’t come to that. You’ll do just fine, trust me.”

“Then how come I don’t feel like I’ll do fine?” Twilight pawed at the bottom of the boat for a moment.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Mays said “I almost started a war once.”

“Why do I find that somewhat believable?”

“I don’t.” Rising Dawn said. “Sure, your ship carries more cannons than half the Ponaean Navy, but other than that green one you don’t seem to be the kind to instigate a war.”

“Wasn’t really my fault.” Mays turned to face both mares. “Anyway, there’s this place called Japan... I suppose the nearest analogue would be where the two bath attendant ponies came from.”

“You mean Neighpan?”

“Close enough. Anyway, we were stopping there for supplies, and for whatever reason I found myself outside Kyoto. There was this girl, I think her name was Katsura, and she was a member of this band of female samurai, or whatever they call a female samurai. Anyway, we had a small chat after she tried to kill me for being an intrusive imperialist. After that she kept popping up whenever I went anywhere, yet she never explained why.

“Then there was this nobleman, and he liked Katsura... a lot. He saw me as a rival, and started sending assassins. Well, after killing the tenth assassin, I went to Katsura and told her to stop following me around or this nobleman would kill me. She... didn’t take that very well.”

“Did she try to kill you?”

“No. She challenged the nobleman to a duel in my name and gutted him like a fish. As he happened to be related to the shogun, I had to sail out of Japan as fast as I could before they pinned the blame on me.”

“I... I think letting her try to kill you would be better.” Rising Dawn said.

“And your reasoning being?”

“This girl obviously had feelings for you and was trying to protect you, and then you run off like that. Imagine what she was thinking; she probably thought it was all her fault that you ran away, or worse that you didn't love her.”

“You sound a bit like Rarity.”

“I don’t know how your friend thinks, but the least you could have done was sneak back and explain why you ran off.”

“Um, I hate to interrupt this conversation,” Twilight said “But we’re about to dock.” The boats pulled up to a small stretch of dock. The ponies here seemed much more interested in the new arrivals than those in Manehattan had been, with small groups gawking at the Equestrians. All the watching eyes only made Twilight more nervous. “Why are they staring so much?”

“Don’t worry. Nopony here has ever seen an Equestrian before.”

“I don’t want to be treated like a museum piece.” Twilight grumbled. The others formed up behind them and the entourage began down the dock, groups of Ponaeans following after them. Most of them kept their distance, although a few of the younger ponies came closer and started asking questions. Twilight was about to answer some of them when the group came to a halt.

Standing in front of them, sizing up Captain Mays, was a large unicorn stallion. Like Iron Spar, his coat was steel grey, but unlike the admiral his mane and tail were showing signs of age, with streaks of white running through them. He was taller than most of the ponies present, even taller than Hacksaw, and his size combined with his piercing gaze sent a shiver down Twilight’s back.

“I am King Stone Bastion, Ruler of Ponaeus.” he said “Who might you be?”

“Captain Montana Mays of the Equestrian Navy, Concordia, and this,” Mays said, pointing to Twilight “Is Ambassador Twilight Sparkle, personal student to Princess Celestia.”

“Hello.” Twilight tried to muster up her courage, but she noted that she sounded a lot more like Fluttershy than usual.

“It’s been nearly five thousand years since we were last contacted by Equestrians. Is there some special reason you wish to resume contact?”

“We were searching for the Obsidian Crescent when we found one of your ships wrecked on a sandbar. We saved as many as we could and decided to bring them here.”

“Very noble of you. But why are you seeking out the Crescent’s resting place?”

“Princess Celestia wanted to return it to her sister.” there was a pause “Look, we don’t want to cause trouble; we just want some supplies so we can continue on tomorrow.”

“Do not worry; I will make sure that you are provisioned before you leave. However, this is a fairly odd series of circumstances, and I would like to know more about why you are here.”

“But we just told you,” Twilight said. “Can’t you trust us?”

“Trusting unknown ponies cost my brother his life. I do not want to risk repeating the mistake. Don’t worry, you will not be threatened. This is only a safety precaution.” Stone Bastion turned to Mays “You will accompany me back to my palace; the others will have to wait on your ship until you return.”

“I don’t mean to sound rude,” Mays said “But I don’t want to abandon my crew like that.”

“I never said you were abandoning them.”

“And I need to make sure he’s okay.” Twilight said, stepping forward “I am an ambassador; I should know what happens to one of my fellow Equestrians.”

“You may come too, if you wish.”

“And my friends?”

“I have no need for them. They’ll go back to the ship.”

“Wait, we’re not going to see the city?” Pinkie cried from the back.

“Pinkie, now’s really not the time-”

“But Twilight, this is an entirely new city! Think of all the new ponies we could meet, all the places we could see, and the food! Think of the food! There’s all that food we’d be missing out-”

“Silence, please.” Pinkie stopped babbling. Stone Bastion looked at Twilight “Despite my position, it would be hard for me to keep track of five additional ponies of unknown origins. They must wait on the ship.”

“My friends go where I go.”

“I suppose I could conduct an examination here.”

“Father,” Rising Dawn stepped forward, checking briefly to see if her daughter was still in place “These ponies saved my life. They deserve better than being stuck on a ship.”

“Dawn...”

“Mother always drilled into my head that we should show strangers hospitality. Would you betray that basic commandment? Please, just one night; my husband and I can look after them.” there was another pause. Twilight and Fluttershy were shuffling around nervously, waiting for Stone Bastion to respond. Stone Bastion relaxed a bit, then smiled.

“You are right, my daughter; I would be betraying our hospitality to leave them on their ship.” he turned back to Mays “I thank you for saving my daughter’s life. I suppose I might have been a bit overly harsh in judging you.”

“I tend to get that a lot.” Mays said. Stone Bastion chucked, then turned to one of his guards.

“Escort Ambassador Sparkle and her friends to the palace; let them freshen up and escort them to dinner. Captain Mays, if it wouldn’t inconvenience you there is still one thing I would like to clarify with you, in private.”

“Of course, sir.” Mays turned back “Hacksaw, Richard, go with Twilight and the others. Signal Smith to stand down while you’re at it. I’ll meet up with you later.”

“Aye captain.” Mays joined Stone Bastion and the two walked off, followed by the king’s guards.

“I hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble, like what happened to him and that other girl.” Twilight said.

“He told you about Katsura, didn’t he?” Twilight nodded. “Don’t worry, the captain can handle himself. Now, let’s get going.”

................

Mays followed silently behind the king and his guards. Stone Bastion was not much of a conversationalist, so Mays kept his mouth shut so as to avoid unnecessary embarrassment. The guards would glance back to make sure he was not causing trouble, but otherwise there was not much interaction. Mays wished he still had his sword, mainly for any security that could be drawn from it.

“Have you ever had to interrogate somepony, captain?” Stone Bastion said, breaking the silence.

“Not really.” Mays said “I’ve dealt with more black-and-white issues.” Most of the time, he added mentally.

“Well, you are not the ruler of a nation.” the king had lead Mays into a domed structure with a carving of an apple above entrance. The main room was a large open space, with only a few unicorns standing to either side. “If you would stand in the center of the room, please. I assure you this will not take long.”

“I’m not going to catch on fire or get stabbed through the head, am I?”

“Have you encountered such threats before?”

“Well, there was one tour that made a stop in Bangladesh...”

“I wish to hear more about this.” Mays took his spot in the center, noting that the unicorns that were already in the room had formed a circle around him, their horns glowing with magic. Stone Bastion took his place in front of Mays and cast the spell. Orange light rose from cracks in the ground, taking a form similar to the apple carving Mays had seen at the entrance.

“What’s this?”

“This is a Seal of Honesty. It tells me whether anything you say is the truth or a lie. Now tell me, how did you get here, and what is your purpose?”

“What if the Seal tells you I’m lying?”

“We’ll stay here for as long as it takes you to break and tell the truth. If I find it threatening to the welfare of my subjects, you will gather your companions and leave Ponaeus. Your life will be forfeit should you attempt to return.” Mays hesitated; Stone Bastion could be lying through his teeth about the Seal and could just be after either the Crescent or the Concordia, but there was something in his tone of voice that made that unlikely. Mays stumbled over just how much he had to tell Stone Bastion before deciding to explain the whole story.

“My crew and I, asides from those six mares, are not from this world. We were pulled into a whirlpool and spat out here as ponies. We talked to Princess Celestia, but she couldn’t get us back to our home world, and seeing as we did not have anywhere else to go she hired us to fetch the Obsidian Crescent for her sister.”

“Princess Celestia has a sister?”

“I’ve never met her, but yes, she does. Wait, how come you don’t know this?”

“The ships carrying the founders of Ponaeus left shortly after Celestia was born. Please continue.”

“Very well. On our way here we discovered signs that one of my old enemies, a pirate by the name of Sammy the Skull, had been pulled through the whirlpool as well. He was the pirate that attacked the ship your daughter was aboard, and I’d hate to know what would happen if he got hold of the Crescent.”

“So your mission is to prevent this from happening.”

“No. I said we came here to bring the Crescent back to Princess Celestia; killing Sammy is only a secondary goal.”

“I see. Besides saving my daughter, is there any other reason you came to Ponaeus?”

“We didn’t even know this city existed until meeting a serpent named Tsuro. He said you might be able to help us find the Crescent, granted you didn’t turn us away. We’re not out for anything; we just want to rest of a little while and find the Crescent.” Mays looked back at Stone Bastion. The king turned to one of the nearby unicorns and mumbled something, the unicorn nodding in agreement.

“Your story is... odd, to say the least. I’m no scholar, so I can’t be certain of exactly how you would be able to come from a different world. However, the Seal tells me that you are telling the truth, so I cannot justify sending you away.” Stone Bastion stepped forward “Welcome to Ponaeus, Captain Mays.”

“So, that’s it?”

“I try to keep such things as informal as possible, and my sincerest apologies for seeming too harsh.”

“I’ve dealt with numerous rulers who were much harsher than you, sir.”

“As have I. Come, we must see what your companions have been up to, and I wish to know more of this other world you come from.”

“I think I have a few stories to tell.”

....................

Twilight shook the last of the bathwater out of her mane. She grabbed a nearby towel using her magic and finished drying off, tossing her head a bit to make sure her coat was not frizzed out. Normally she would not have been incredibly meticulous about her appearance (she left that for Rarity), but she had to admit that it felt wonderful washing off all the salt and grime she had accumulated over the last week.

“Remind me to ask the attendants for the soap they used,” Rarity said “I think the spa in Ponyville would simply love it.”

“I’m sure they have some they’d be willing to part with.” Twilight finished drying off and faced Rarity. “Where are the others?”

“Fluttershy and Pinkie went for a massage, but I don’t know what Applejack and Rainbow Dash have been up to.”

“Tryin’ to keep her for flyin’ through the roof.” Applejack said, coming down one hall followed by Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, the attendants were getting a little too close for comfort.” Rainbow Dash sneezed “Great, I’m going to be smelling like flowers for the rest of the trip.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Rarity asked.

“The only other reason I avoid your boutique besides the fact that it’s too... frilly is because that perfume you drench the place in gives me the munchies. I smell exactly like that perfume.”

“Don’t worry, you should get used to it after awhile.”

“Easy for you to say; you’re the one that’s always surrounded by these kinds of smells.”

“So, I see you all have freshened up a bit.” Twilight and her friends turned and saw Rising Dawn standing behind them. The mare had tied her hair back and put on a simple white tunic and she was followed by Tradewind and several other ponies.

“Thanks again for letting us use the baths.” Twilight said.

“You’re welcome. I used to come here a lot when I was little, mainly to try and figure out how all the water got up here. My father never really explained anything about this place until I was older.”

“Ah... Where’s your daughter?”

“Asleep; she’s been through a lot today and needs her rest for tomorrow.” Rising Dawn and her entourage turned to leave “We best meet up with the others.” Twilight and her friends began following behind them.

“So,” Twilight asked “How exactly did you two meet?”

“By accident, mainly.” Tradewind said “I was just starting out in the navy and I was asked to coordinate a docking maneuver. It didn’t go so well.”

“That’s an understatement.” Rising Dawn said.

“Yeah, it kinda is; I misjudged a distance and crashed a schooner into the dock.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I get off the ship to try and coordinate getting the ship back out when this mare ran up to me and chewed me out for nearly killing one of her friends. There was a protracted argument and she threatened to put my eyes out with an axe if she saw me again.”

“I might of been a bit hasty. He had a really cute face.”

“And how did you stop her from blinding you?” Twilight asked.

“The next day, I was still helping repair the dock. She came back and apologized for threatening me. I asked her if she wanted to go out for lunch and...”

“We had a pretty strenuous relationship, especially after I told him who I was.”

“Except for that one time your brother tried to kill me, it wasn’t that strenuous.”

“Says the pony that considered jumping off a cliff a good way to impress a girl.” this earned Rising Dawn a smack on the rump, which she responded to by flicking Tradewind in the face with her tail.

“Ah, I see our guests are enjoying themselves.” Stone Bastion was waiting near the largest exit, with Mays, Richard and Hacksaw standing behind him.

“We have been.” Twilight said. “So, are there any other issues with our stay?”

“Oh, of course not. I found no reason to turn you away, and you all seem like fairly honest ponies. Come, we’ll discuss this more at dinner, and I’m sure Captain Mays has a few stories he would like to share.” Stone bastion lead the group down another hall. Twilight fell to the back of the group so she could speak with Mays.

“What did he do to you?” she asked.

“Just asked me a few questions about why we came here... what do you know about Seals of Honesty?”

“He used a Seal of Honesty?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“Oh no; any unicorn with access to powerful magics can cast a Seal of Honesty, but I’ve only ever seen Princess Celestia cast a spell like that and not have it malfunction.”

“He did use a few other unicorns.”

“He used a group casting too? You never see group spells nowadays... at least not for anything incredibly important. There has to be somewhere I can find the exact spell he used; it would certainly help my studies of ancient Equestrian magic, and Princess Celestia loves when I’m able to find some old forgotten spells to practice.”

“Uh, Twilight...”

“Although that doesn’t really make a lot of sense, since she’s really old and should know those kinds of spells by heart... Maybe she just pretends not to know so it can be more of a learning experience.”

“Twilight...”

“Teachers do that all the time, right? Pretend to not know what you’re telling them just so you learn better? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s pretty weird when-”

“Twilight!” Twilight stopped talking and looked at Mays “I know you’re really enthusiastic about the whole ‘unknown spell’ bit, but there is a time and a place for that enthusiasm, and now is not it.”

“Oh... sorry for rambling.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure the king can answer all the questions you want.” the two walked faster in order to catch up with the others.

“I just hope there’s no wine.” Twilight mumbled.

“Why is wine bad? Being stuck on a ship with nothing but water and rum, I could enjoy a change of venue.”

“No, it’s not that it’s bad or anything. It’s just... I don’t really have the best relationship with wine, or other alcoholic beverages, for that matter.”

“You seemed to do okay back on board the Concordia.”

“The rum was watered down there, wasn’t it?” Mays paused.

“Yeah, it was. Don’t worry, I think you’ll be fine.”

...................

Dinner had gone off without a hitch; the greens they had served had been a little chewy, but Mays and the other sailors were used to that sort of thing. Afterwards, he and Hacksaw told Stone Bastion about a few of their more memorable encounters back when they were still humans, and Pinkie Pie and Rarity joined in with bits about Equestria and life in Ponyville.

However, that was when they broke out the wine. Twilight’s reaction had been... out there.

“So then I said to Prin’ess ‘Lestia ‘I don’ wanna do my aston’my homework. It’s Lunacy!’” Twilight giggled and flopped onto Mays’ back as he and Fluttershy escorted her to a guest room on the eastern side of the palace “She... she made me do lots more homework after that... I don’ like the moon anymore... ‘cept Luna, she’s really really really nice an’ stuff.”

“I see.” Mays said. “Has she ever done anything like this before?”

“Not that I know of.” Fluttershy said. Twilight looked over at them and continued talking.

“Captain.... Caaaaaaptainnnnn... Hey, Captain.” she said, poking Mays in the back of the head.

“Yes Twilight?”

“I jus’ wanted you to know, that I think you are rea-a-al-y hot.”

“Actually, it’s rather pleasant in here; there’s a bit of a draft but otherwise my body temperature is fine.”

“She means she thinks you’re attractive.” Fluttershy said.

“Bingo, Flutters! He’s so hot, that if he was the sun, he’d be hotter.”

“Uh, thank you?”

“Welcome. An’ you... an’ you’re always sayin’ things, makin’ yourself so big an’ important... I like that.” Twilight threw herself over Mays shoulders and tried to whisper in his ear “I think... you’n I... we should get together.”

“Uh...”

“Oh, we should, we should... we’d have fun!” Twilight hiccupped, then continued “Yup, lotsa fun, like the Cakes and my parents and Rarity’s parents all the cute couples ‘round Ponyville. You like fun, don’ you?”

“Twilight, you’re drunk.”

“I’m not so think as you drunk I am! I still wan’ youuuuuu.” She pushed her head up against his neck “C’mon, you’n me. Whaddya say?”

“Some other time perhaps?” Twilight nodded and broke off. She walked about two steps before throwing herself at Mays again.

“It’s ‘nother time now!” Twilight gave Mays a peck on the nose and giggled again “Now me.”

“What?”

“Kiss me, but not just my nose... I bet you’re really good at kissing, bein’ a sailor’n all.”

“Twilight, that’s a fairly personal matter.”

“You sound like Mom.... I really need to write her more; she knows all about relations and kissing and stuff. But you have to be... ‘least, that’s what Pinkie’d say, isn’t it. She's nice too, but she’s mad. Mad mad mad!”

“I’m beginning to have similar thoughts about you.” Twilight stepped back, beaming.

“Really? That’s lov’ly. I know...” Twilight flopped over on her back, wiggling her legs in the air.

“Please tell me she’s passing out right now.”

“No, silly,” Twilight said, wiggling her legs more “I wan’ you to buck me!”

“Uh...”

“Yup, I wanna get bucked so hard I can barely stand. Come on, right now!” Twilight continued to wiggle her legs in the air, the other two ponies staring at her in confusion.

“She’s never done anything like this.” Fluttershy said. Twilight rolled back on her stomach.

“You’re one to talk to, Miss ‘Clops to Pictures of Big Mac’. Oh, I know you’ve got a gazillion photos of him in that dresser you think I don’ know about. Well, I DO know about ‘em.” Twilight stuck her tongue out at Fluttershy, whose face had flushed red with embarrassment. Twilight stood up, grinning. “Gazillion... that should be a real number. Right after one hundred. Ninety-Nine, One Hundred, Gazillion! Yeah... that sounds good.” Twilight began to trot off, singing ‘gazillion’ as if it were one of Pinkie’s songs. Mays managed to stop her by planting his hoof on her tail.

“Twilight, I think you’re going a little out of control right now.”

“Can I go outta control on you?” she asked.

“No, you need to rest.”

“Ooookayyy.” Twilight pouted briefly before attempting to skip off. She lost control of her legs fairly quickly and plowed into a pillar “Hey, watch where you’re goin’, Mr. Skinny. I’m Prin’ess ‘Lestia’s pers’nal student. And she’s all powerful, and she’ll send you to the moon. To the moooooooooooooooooon... Bananas.” Twilight made another step before passing out, her snores interrupted by bouts of hiccups.

“I think it’s best we don’t tell Princess Celestia about what happened tonight.” Mays said, walking over to the sleeping unicorn.

“Yes... I wouldn’t mind either.” Fluttershy said. The two ponies slipped their heads under one of Twilight’s forelegs each and continued to carry her to the guest quarters.

Comments

[Codexwriter476]

Note to self: DONT give Twilight wine or basically any alcoholic beverages

[musicluvr1974]

Twilight finished drying off and faced Rarity. “Where are the others?”
“Fluttershy and Pinkie went for a massage, but I don’t know what Applejack and Rainbow Dash have been up to.”
“Tryin’ to keep her for flyin’ through the roof.” Applejack said, coming down one hall followed by Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, the attendants were getting a little too close for comfort.” Rainbow Dash sneezed “Great, I’m going to be smelling like flowers for the rest of the trip.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Rarity asked.
“The only other reason I avoid your boutique besides the fact that it’s too... frilly is because that perfume you drench the place in gives me the munchies. I smell exactly like that perfume.”

This perfume of hers wouldn't happen to be a Cannabis sativa derivative, would it? By the way, you're missing a period after "sneezed."