Prologue
"Darn it!" Twilight stamped her hoof angrily against the ground. "This is a simple spell, I could do it in my sleep! What's going wrong?"
"Maybe you just need to put more energy into it." Spike was eager to help, but he didn't know enough to give good advice. Instead, he just stood by and watched as Twilight focused on the books lying before her. "I still don't get what it is this spell is supposed to do. Plus, if it's simple, do you really need to do it? I mean, you do tough spells all the time."
"I told you already Spike, it displays an image, more of a hologram really, that plays out the events of a book. The reason I'm trying so hard is that it would be a great way to introduce young ponies who can't read yet to books, as well as older ponies who just don't want to like Rainbow Dash." Twilight focused again as she spoke, and sighed as her magic fizzled away. Her frustration had put her on the verge of giving up. Maybe the spell really wasn't that important after all.
Suddenly a blur of pink burst through the door to the library, almost knocking Spike off his feet. "Twilight! Are you here? I need your help!" Pinkie Pie's voice sounded urgent, and Twilight quickly forgot about the spell.
"What is it Pinkie? Is everything okay?"
"I need your help really really badly. It's super important."
"What, Pinkie?"
"I need you to taste these brownies! Right after I cooked them I remembered that the pony who ordered them is super picky. He'll only accept the best, and I need taste testers to make sure they're great." Pinkie pulled out a plate filled with warm, soft brownies that gave off a tantalizing smell. For a minute Twilight just stared, completely thrown off by wondering how Pinkie could possibly place so much urgency on a snack. After that minute, she remembered who she was talking to. She gladly accepted a brownie, and Spike did the same. They had learned long ago to trust Pinkie's culinary expertise. "So? How are they?" Pinkie impatiently bounced up and down while they chewed.
"Oh, wow Pinkie!" Spike spit out bits of chocolate as he spoke, overwhelmed by the deliciousness. "These are some of the best brownies I've ever had!" He swooned at the taste and quickly scarfed down the rest of the brownie.
Twilight had more restraint than Spike, and finished her brownie before talking. "They're great, Pinkie. In fact, I'd say they were perfect." She craved more, but knew that they were for a customer. After the taste began to leave her mouth, she remembered what she had been doing before Pinkie bounced in. "Oh, can I please get back to what I was doing now? Feel free to stick around and watch if you want." Twilight turned back to the books and once again focused her magic.
"Oh, what is it? Can I help? Is it fun? It looks fun, I bet it's something awesome. Like maybe you're gonna make the books super strong and build a book fort, or make them fly around the room, or-" Twilight stuck her hoof in Pinkie's mouth, desperate to stop the verbal assault. She could only handle so much, and her nerves were already frayed from the events prior to Pinkie's interruption.
"Hold your horses Pinkie, one question at a time. You'll see soon enough what the spell does. Trust me, it'll be worth the wait. Just stand there and stay out of the way. I don't want you to get hurt." Twilight held back her frustration while speaking. Her time spent with Pinkie had taught her how to be calm with the bubbly pink pony. She quickly regained her composure and poured all her attention into the books, letting the world around her slip away.
Pinkie sat hard on the floor and stared intensely at the books, as if trying to convince them to tell her their secrets. After a minute, she remembered something, and jumped into the air.
"STOP!"
Twilight jumped a little and fell forwards. In her surprise, she overloaded the spell, sending a blinding aura out in all directions. The entire library was enveloped in a purple glow. The books flew upwards and spiraled in a tornado of magic that swept across the library, picking up Twilight and Pinkie in its rampage. Then, as quickly as it had started, it all disappeared, magic, ponies and all.
Spike crawled out from where he had been hiding and looked around confusedly. All that remained was a pile of books on the floor of the library. He was confused, but there was nothing he could do, so he instead began to clean up the mess left behind. He walked over to the pile of books, and the title of one caught his eye.
"Deep Waters"
"Why did you scream 'stop?'"
"I think I left my oven on."
"Ugh. Well, where are we?" They looked around. Somehow, they had been teleported to a boat in the middle of the ocean. The vessel wasn't small, but not overly large either, just the size you would expect a team of fishermen to have. Either there were no other ponies on board, or they had all returned to their cabins. There was no land in any direction, and the sun was setting. Overhead was a sinister cloud cover, cast in an ominous orange light by the retreating sun. "I didn't even think ponies sailed ships anymore. Where could we possibly be?"
"This seems fun! Let's explore." Pinkie was about to bounce off, but stopped when she saw Twilight staring in shock off the side of the boat. "What's the matter Twilight? Don't like exploring?" In response, Twilight reached over and turned Pinkie's head, and what she saw made her jaw drop. Rapidly approaching the ship was a wave the size of nothing they had ever imagined.
"Umm, Twilight?"
"Yeah Pinkie?"
"I think we're gonna need a bigger boat."