The RMS Queen Mary was a tired ship. She was now 31 years old, and this was the end of her final voyage. From 1936, until 1967, she was in service, plying the Atlantic Ocean as a speedy ocean liner running between Southampton, England, and New York City in the US, her service only interrupted by her serving as a troopship in WW2. She was one of, if not the most famous ocean liners of all time by this point, even passing the Titanic in terms of fame. However, by the 1960's, it was clear that the writing was on the wall for the famous ship. Passenger airliners were becoming common, being able to cross the Atlantic in hours, rather than days, coupled with the rising operating costs, spelled the end for the Queen Mary. Earlier in the year, she crossed the Atlantic for the last time, and on Halloween night in 1967, she departed her home-port in Southampton, England for the last time, bound for her new home on her final voyage.
At first, it looked like Japanese scrap merchants were going to claim the ship, but their bid was outbid by the bid put in from the city of Long Beach, California, who had plans to take the ship, and turn her into a floating hotel, and museum. When the Queen Mary departed from Southampton, she was headed to her new home in Long Beach. She arrived there on December 9th, 1967 to much fanfare, and many were sad to see the old Queen go, but they would have been sadder still if they knew what was going to happen next to the aging ship.
When she arrived in Long Beach, the Queen Mary docked to allow her final passengers to disembark, as well as her final crew, before she was towed to a pier where her conversion would take place. During this time, some of the ship's furnishings were being packed up, ready to be removed from the ship, and the Queen Mary drifted into a peaceful sleep, awaiting her conversion, which was scheduled to begin in a few days. However, all was not well.
While she slept, the Soul of the Queen Mary, known simply as "Mary", who had been with the ship ever since the first piece of steel for her hull was cut way back in December of 1930, had a shocking, and extremely sad vision; she saw what her future in Long Beach was going to look like. Her ship's conversion, which she thought was going to be something nice to spruce her up before being opened to the public was in fact a massive gutting of everything below R-Deck, including all of her boiler rooms, the forward engine room, both turbo-generator rooms, her water softening plant, the ship's stabilizers, all of her Second Class, Third Class, and Crew Cabins, her Turkish Baths, the Second Class Swimming Pool, Drawing Room, Library, Lecture Room the Music Studio, the First Class Cinema, the First Class Lounge and Smoking Room, the Second Class Smoking Room, the elegant Verandah Grill, and more, while other spaces, such as the First Class Dining Room, and various lounges were subdivided into event spaces. After this, the ship's empty fuel tanks were filled with local mud to keep the ship's center of gravity and draft at the correct levels, as these critical factors had been affected by the removal of the various components and structure. Of all the machinery spaces, only the aft engine room and "Shaft Alley" at the stern of the ship were spared.
After this, various other modern eateries, event spaces, stores and a shopping mall were added to the ship, among other modern amenities, 3 of her 4 propellers were removed, the ship was permanently moored in place, a cofferdam of rocks was added around it to act as a breakwater, and on May 8th, 1971, the ship would open her doors to tourists.
"My word." Mary muttered to herself, tears in her eyes. "This is awful. My ship doesn't deserve to be gutted and modernized like this!"
But as bad as this was, what she saw next in her vision was far worse.
Sure, the ship was well-received by guests, but behind the scenes, trouble was brewing. Jacques Cousteau's Museum of the Sea, which was the reason almost the entirety of the Queen Mary's machinery spaces were gutted, only opened with 1/4 of the planned exhibits, and was closed within 10 years due to low ticket sales, and most of the marine life in said exhibits dying. And because all of that machinery was scrapped, there was nothing to put back in in its place, making tours of these areas quite boring, as there was nothing to look at but bare metal.
And over the years, the Queen Mary went through many different owners, each of whom only seemed to value profits, rather than the upkeep of the ship. This led to rust, rotting wood on the decks, peeling paint, the lifeboats rotting, the funnels looking in really bad shape, the hull rusting and leaking, the ship's First Class Swimming Pool falling apart, numerous botched repair jobs, among a growing list of problems, and of course, the disrespect shown to the ship, and its history. Mary both screamed in rage at the group in the 80's that allowed some buffoons to have a motorcycle race up and down the stairs in the First Class Pool Room, and felt deep sadness that she ship's history was being ignored in favor of ghost tours.
"So that's it then? They let my ship fall to f@#king pieces around their 'precious' little hotel operation, and instead focus almost entirely on my ship being 'haunted'?! Most of those ghost stories were made up by Disney in the 80's when they owned the ship for f@#k's sake! Are people really that stupid?!" She then paused. "Oh wait. Yeah, of COURSE they are!"
By late 2020, Urban Commons, and Eagle Hospitality, the ship's two most recent owners both filed for bankruptcy, and the ship's condition was absolutely critical. It was clear that if something wasn't done, and done soon, then the RMS Queen Mary, One of literally only 8 ocean liners left in the world, would be no more. And it was here that her vision ended, leaving Mary quite shaken, but then a thought struck her.
"But wait a minute. Why does any of this need to happen at all?" Mary asked herself. "All of this is just a future that could be; I have the power to change the future here and now, but yet, how?" She knew that something had to be done, and done literally within the next few hours, because once the conversion work was begun on her, then it would be too late, and History would play out as she saw it do in her vision.
"But what can I do?" She wondered. "The ship's already been sold to the City of Long Beach, and if I get to any other port, they'll just send the ship right back here. If only there was somewhere I could go where they couldn't find me; somewhere that actually needed me."
Then she paused. An idea then began to formulate in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Back during the Second World War, in 1942, the American Navy accidentally stumbled across a portal in the Bermuda Triangle that led to another world. At the other end of this portal was the Magical Land of Equestria, a place full of talking Ponies, some of whom could fly and use Magic, ruled over by 2 Diarch Princesses. It was thanks to the Ponies's aid that WW2 was brought to a quicker end in early 1944, and with far less casualties than what it would have been otherwise, and in the post-war world, some tourists began to visit Equestria, while other Ponies visited Earth. Even the RMS Queen Mary had made a few ports of call there in the 1950's, and one final one in 1966, less than a year before she was retired.
"And Equestria was looking for an ocean liner to further beef up their fleet of luxury liners, but they were unable to bid high enough for me when I was retired by Cunard. And because I'd be in another world, then the laws would be different, and they wouldn't be obligated to return the ship back to the City of Long Beach. I mean yeah, they'd probably have to pay some kind of a hefty fee or fine, but that would be small fish compared to what my fate would be if I remain here in Long Beach. But yet, I'd also have to be able to fully bring the ship online and sail it it there myself."
Mary knew that this was going to be a long shot. While she was capable of operating the ship herself, since her spirit could infuse itself with the ship entirely, operating each and every aspect of it, it was a long journey from Long Beach to the Bermuda Triangle, one that would take her all the way around South America, as the panama Canal was not yet able to accommodate ships of her width and depth. Fuel would be a concern, as her fuel tanks were already pretty depleted from her journey from Southampton to Long Beach, as would her being pursued, which she knew was going to be a strong possibility, but as she looked around the pier she was docked to, a plan began to formulate in her mind.
"Yes, I think I might actually be able to pull this off." She murmured to herself.
Currently hooked up to the ship was a series of long hoses. These were connected to several tanks on a large barge that was being used to suck all of the fuel out of the ship's fuel tanks so that they could be washed out, and cleaned of all fuel. However, thanks to Mary's ability to interact with anything and everything on the ship, and what's connected to it, she managed to reverse the barge's pumps, sucking all of the fuel out of the barge's tanks, and sending it right back into the Queen Mary's fuel tanks. And because the barge had been used to suck fuel out of other ships before the Queen Mary, there was quite a lot of fuel in its tanks, enabling Mary to fill her ship's fuel tanks almost 3/4 full before the barge's tanks ran dry.
"Ok, so that takes care of the fuel. Now then, to get everything else ready....."
Mary then spread her spirit throughout the ship, fully possessing it, and able to control each and every aspect of it. She began down in the boiler rooms, where she quickly lit up each of the 24 x Yarrow boilers, and the 3 x Scotch boilers in her boiler rooms, and once these were burning nicely, and smoke began to come from her 3 funnels, she began to transfer the power to her ship's 4 × Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbine engines, while also disconnecting the power cables from shore, instead powering up her turbo-generators to supply power to the ship, which soon got the ship's power, and other internal systems working again, but only to the degree of what had been turned on before, so as not to draw too much attention to the ship.
"Ok, so I'm well on my way to being able to move the ship, but the boilers still need more time to finish heating up, and generating enough steam to be able to fully operate my turbine engines."
While this was happening, Mary also began to fill any and all available tanks on the ship with seawater to act as ballast, since there wasn't going to be the weight of any passengers or crew onboard her for this run. Finally, a few hours later, at almost 5am, her boilers were as hot as could be, and there was more than enough steam to get her turbine engines going. Mary then began to transfer the power to them, and soon the ship's 4 x screw propellers began to spin slowly, and she began to mentally prepare herself for the long journey ahead.
"I really hope I can do this." She thought to herself. "This is going to be a journey of at least several thousand miles, and I'll be completely on my own with no support, while most likely actively being pursued by various naval assets, both from the United States, and potentially elsewhere too. No ports are safe, and I'll have to be running at nearly my full speed the entire time. This journey could take weeks, or even slightly over a month, just like my journey from Southampton to Long Beach, but it must be done. Both for my sake, and the sake of the Queen Mary, the ship I'm the Soul of."
She then lowered the gangway that had been allowing workers to board the ship, after creating the illusions of ghosts and spirits to chase away the few workers that were starting their shifts onboard her to offload her furniture, dishes, and and other furnishings, as she wanted the ship to be completely empty of all people for this voyage, and then began to start undoing the lines that attached her to the pier, and there were quite a lot of them.
"Too many." She muttered to herself.
However, her problems were soon going to be a lot worse than a bunch of ropes. By now, the smoke from her funnels had been seen by various dock workers, and this, coupled with the noises of her machinery starting up, and the workers who'd been chased off the ship by "ghosts" had raised the alarm, and soon numerous workers, security personnel, and law enforcement officers were beginning to arrive, and Mary knew that she had to act fast.
"Uh oh! Time to go!"
Mary then finished untying as many of the mooring ropes as she could, but unfortunately for her, some of them got stuck/had been tied way too tightly.
"Dammit! F@#king dammit!" She cursed to herself. With no time left to untie them, as the gangway was being raised up so that men could get onboard the ship, Mary instead quickly set the Engine Order Telegraphs to "Full Ahead" (a bit of a pointless gesture, since she was the only one on the ship, and these didn't actually control the engines's speed), before operating the controls in the engine room to quickly run up the engines to a higher speed.
The Queen Mary then began to pull away from the pier, and while the few remaining mooring ropes did indeed pull tight, due to the size and speed of the Queen Mary, plus the sheer determination of Mary herself to not be stopped, the ropes either snapped, ripped a bollard off the ship, or ripped a bollard off the dock, and once the ship was fully away from the dock, Mary turned on the rest of the ship's lights, as well as the navigation lights, and blew the horns to give the required signals, but without any tugboats, or a harbor pilot (which was very dangerous, as Mary didn't know the Port of Long Beach very well at all) she narrowly avoided any accidents, made it out of the port, and was soon out at sea. She then turned herself South, and began her long journey towards Cape Horn at the end of South America.
Her ship's engines were soon fully run up to full-speed, bringing the ship up to a speed of about 32 knots, and down in the First Class Dining Room, a large mural on the wall featuring two little crystal ship models to track the progress of the RMS Queen Mary, and her sister-ship, RMS Queen Elizabeth lit up and began to move, but the one for the Queen Mary was inaccurate. (The models were used to track the progress of both ships across the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton to New York (or vice-versa), not from Long Beach to the Bermuda Triangle, but they were going to track the ship's progress nevertheless).
Mary looked at the mural, and sighed. It had been a long time since she'd last seen her sister Lizzy, aka Elizabeth, the Soul of the RMS Queen Elizabeth. Both Soul-Sisters and their ships had plied the Atlantic Ocean together for many years, but that ended when the Queen Mary was retired, and while the Queen Elizabeth was still in service, her end was nigh as well, with her replacement liner, the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, due to enter service in 1969. Mary then saw that the crystal ship representing the Queen Elizabeth was currently crossing the Atlantic heading towards Southampton, meaning that her Sister was on her weekly scheduled run.
"If I can time it just right, then maybe, just maybe, we can cross paths while you're sailing towards New York one day soon, Sister." She thought to herself.
There was a long journey ahead, but so far, it seemed to be smooth sailing.
As the sun was rising, the Queen Mary's journey Southward was so far going smoothly, at least in terms of the weather and the sea. What was not going so smoothly however was how the ship was now being pursued. Ever since her unscheduled, and very jarring departure from Long Beach, the ship was being pursued, first by various smaller boats manned by the ship's owners, and the Long Beach Port Police, but once the ship moved out of range, this was when the US Navy, and US Coast Guard had to get involved, as their vessels had the longer endurance and speed required to at least keep pace with the fugitive ocean liner, though they lacked the required speed needed to fully overtake her. Their top speeds were around 30-35 knots, and the Queen Mary, thanks to Mary knowing exactly how to maximize the full potential from the liner's turbine engines was able to maintain a speed of around 36-38 knots. However, this didn't protect her from various US Navy aircraft, both fixed-wing, and helicopters. (Chiefly helicopters though, especially once the Queen Mary moved out of range of the Continental US, and there weren't any aircraft carriers within range at that time, as they were either stationed elsewhere, or were off the coast of Vietnam).
And of course, the US Navy personnel were quite confused and bemused by this whole situation. Never had they ever had to chase down a fugitive ocean liner before, and never before had an ocean liner been "stolen" in a manner like this. And to make it even stranger, as of then, no groups, terrorist or otherwise were claiming any responsibility for the Queen Mary's theft, and no attempts were made to stop the US Navy vessels or aircraft in pursuit of the ship. However, radio hails were made, and these just made the situation even stranger.
"Attention Queen Mary, attention Queen Mary, this is the US Navy heavy cruiser USS Las Angeles CA-135. You need to stop your engines, and prepare to be boarded, as your ship has been stolen from the Port of Long Beach. Please acknowledge, over."
After a short time, a reply came. "This is the Queen Mary, and I'm afraid I cannot comply with your request. I'm not returning to Long Beach, as I know what fate awaits the Queen Mary there."
"Who even is this? Please identify yourself, over."
"My name is Mary. Just, Mary."
"Well, 'Mary', you're in possession of a stolen ocean liner, and are currently a fugitive from the US Navy. In any other circumstance, deadly force would have been authorized (and it still may be), but as of now, you've shown no hostile actions, and there isn't anyone being held hostage onboard the ship, but you must heave-to, and prepare to be boarded."
"I'm not in possession of a stolen ocean liner, USS Las Angeles. I've been onboard this ship since her earliest days; since the moment the very first piece of steel for her keel was cut at the John Brown & Co. Shipyard in Clyde Bank, Scotland. The Queen Mary is my ship, and I am her Soul. Many sailors say that ships have souls, and they're correct. I'm Mary, the Soul of the RMS Queen Mary. The ship may not be alive, but I am, as I've possessed the ship, and am currently operating it."
There was a lengthy period of silence, presumably while those on the USS Las Angeles, and the other ships with her were in stunned disbelief at what they'd just heard. Clearly whoever had just said that was either crazy, or a liar, but yet......there seemed to be something more to it.
"RMS Queen Mary.....eh....this is the Las Angeles again. I must continue to ask you to heave to, and prepare to be boarded, though I'm also extending the options to include returning to the Port of Long Beach, or pull into the nearest neutral port."
"I'm aware of the options, Las Angeles, but once again, I'm afraid I must decline. I cannot return to the Port of Long Beach, nor will I pull into a neutral port, or any port for that matter, and I cannot heave-to. I have places to be."
"Oh? And where's that, Queen Mary?"
"And let you set up an ambush for me when I get there? Not likely. That's for me to know, and you to find out."
"I assume that you're trying to make another transatlantic run? Your ship will be impounded the moment you reach either New York or Southampton, or any port you know."
Mary sighed. "Oh yes, I'm very well aware. Which is why I don't plan on making it to any port."
"You'll have to eventually, Queen Mary. You'll run out of fuel, and other essentials, and will be left dead in the water. Then you'll be boarded."
"Oh, I'm very well aware of this, Las Angeles, which is why I'm taking great care to conserve my resources, know exactly where I'm heading, and am making a mad-dash to get there."
"It doesn't matter where you go Queen Mary, we'll be right there to follow you."
"You can try, Las Angeles, and I won't stop you from doing so. However, the real question is, will you have any authority when we get there? Because I think not."
"And why's that, Queen Mary?"
Mary didn't respond, and would go quiet for the next number of hours. During this time, a helicopter full of US Marines departed from another ship in the chase fleet, aiming to board the Queen Mary from above, but had to abort due to a sudden influx of black smoke from the Queen Mary's smokestacks completely obscuring their view, almost like a giant smokescreen. The Queen Mary continued her journey South, passing the Pacific side of Central America about a week later. As the ship passed it, Mary look Eastwards towards the direction of where Panama was.
"Damn. Such a shame that my ship's too wide and her draft's too deep to fit through the Panama Canal. That would have cut my sailing time by weeks, instead of forcing me to sail around Cape Horn. But alas, while there are plans to widen and deepen the canal, they're still being undertaken, and who know's when they'll be complete."
She then returned her focus to continuing her voyage south.
As she continued her journey a few hundred miles off the Western Coast of South America, the ongoing saga of the Queen Mary was making headlines all across the world. Some thought it was a hoax, others thought it was some kind of publicity stunt, but the world knew it wasn't a hijacking, as Mary finally allowed a group of US Marines to come aboard, and they searched the ship high and low, yet they never found a living soul aboard. Everything was where it should have been, and everything was running smoothly, but yet, there was no one in sight.
"It's as if the entire ship is running itself." The Marine Lieutenant leading the operation reported back to the USS Las Angeles. "There's no one onboard, yet everything's running."
The Marines were then ordered to try and take control of the ship, but no matter what they did, it had no effect, as the Queen Mary controls didn't respond when moved, or they refused to budge at all. Eventually, they resorted to trying to deliberately destroy the ship's engines and boilers, which resulted in Mary being forced to use the same methods she'd used to chase away the dock workers back in Long Beach; pretending to be ghosts, and then slamming and locking various doors and bulkheads to keep the Marines out, all while herding them out from below decks. Eventually, they were herded back out onto the main deck at the ship's stern, where the helicopter picked them up, and took them back to the USS Las Angeles. They would be the last Humans to be onboard the Queen Mary for a while.
A few days after this, Mary turned the Queen Mary Southeast, as she'd finally reached Cape Horn at the tip of South America. Once she reached it, Mary blew the ship's 3 Cunard horns to celebrate the occasion, and as she was passing it, for a brief time, the Queen Mary was in 3 oceans at the same time; the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. Other US Navy vessels joined in trying to intercept the Queen Mary once she entered the Atlantic, joined by elements from the British, Argentinian, and Brazilian Navies as well, since the Queen Mary was moving off their coasts. Also by this time, as had been since the chase began, the Queen Mary's picture was in newspapers all around the world, and she was being talked about on the radio, and on TV too. Everyone continued to wonder where the ship was going, and when it would stop, or be stopped. Had the ship been a threat, it would have been stopped by now, but since it wasn't, it was allowed to keep moving.
Down in the First Class Dining Room, Mary was looking up at the mural again. The little crystal ship representing the Queen Mary had gone a bit haywire, moving back and forth, unable to move to where in the Atlantic the ship was (currently moving off the coast of Brazil), but yet that wasn't what Mary was looking at. She was looking at the other little crystal ship, the one representing the RMS Queen Elizabeth. It showed that the ship had left Southampton, bound for New York.
"I really hope I can pull this off." Mary thought to herself. Her plan was to rendezvous with Lizzy at sea off the East Coast of the US, spend a brief time with her Sister, before the Queen Elizabeth continued on to New York, while she turned herself South again, heading for the Bermuda Triangle.
"It's gonna be close, but I have less than 4 days to make it happen. Lizzy has to keep her schedule to get to New York on time, and I have to make it to the Bermuda Triangle before I run out of fuel."
Around this same time, Mary hailed the RMS Queen Elizabeth from the ship's radio room, and her Sister Lizzy was surprised to hear from Mary, and even more surprised that her Sister was sailing, and wanted to rendezvous at sea with her.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I can divert from my course a little bit to make the rendezvous happen, Sis. Plus, I'm pretty sure my passengers would love to get to see the two Cunard Queens together one last time, which I hope will be enough to pacify them about being late to getting to New York."
"I'm glad you think so too, Lizzy. And where are you now?"
"'Bout a day or so out of Southampton, and 'bout 2 1/2 from New York. I'll reduce my speed a little bit, enough so that my engineers won't notice, but you still need to hurry, Mary. And where are you right now?"
"Ok, so that means that your crystal model in my First Class Dining Room mural is indeed still accurate. And I'm currently off the coast of Brazil, heading North as fast as I can."
"And you're still being shadowed by dozens of naval ships?"
"Yep."
"Well, it's definitely causing quite a stir. It's not every day an ocean liner just takes to sea by itself."
"Yeah, I know that, Lizzy. But I had to do it. I saw what my future would be if I didn't, so I had to do something about it."
"I know, Mary. See you at the rendezvous point."
"See you there, Lizzy."
Both ships then continued on their way
After a few more days at sea, Mary had to slow down the ship a bit, as her fuel supply was becoming depleted, and the engines weren't able to handle the strain at being run at such high speeds for so long. By doing this, she was able to rest her own machinery a bit, as well as the machinery of the pursuing naval ships, as their own machinery had also been pushed to the limit for long stretches of time.
By January 3rd, 1968, the Queen Mary was passing by the Bermuda Triangle. Mary looked off the ship's port side as the ship passed. It looked harmless enough, but she knew that somewhere within, presumably near the center was where the portal to Equestria was.
"And once I've made my rendezvous with Lizzy, that's where I'll be heading to." Mary said to herself.
By this time, there was plenty of buzz in the world's media that it seemed that the fugitive Queen Mary was going to be rendezvousing with the RMS Queen Elizabeth sometime within the next 24 hours, though for how long, and for what purpose no one knew. Mary was still making her way North as quickly as she could, while Lizzy took control of the Queen Elizabeth just enough to turn the ship to port, and began making her way Southward. The ship's crew, realizing that their ship was turning too far South tried to correct the ship's course, but Lizzy wouldn't let them, intentionally jamming the ship's wheel long enough to allow the ship to reach the rendezvous point, off the coast of Virginia.
The sun was going down on the late afternoon on January 5th, when a large dot appeared on the Queen Elizabeth's radar screen, and a similar large dot appeared on the radar screen of the Queen Mary. The 2 ships had found each other at long last. Various aircraft flew overhead to capture the encounter on film, as did those on the warships, and the passengers on the Queen Elizabeth. It still wasn't clear what was going to happen when the two ships reached each other, but the World would soon find out.
As the two ships came into sight of each other, they both began to blow their horns, with this being done by Mary and Lizzy. Then the two massive ocean liners, the pride of the Cunard Fleet began to circle around each other in a clockwise-pattern at sea, an act never before seen for such large vessels. And in the midst of it, unseen by everyone watching, Mary and Lizzy hugged each other, the two Soul-Sisters in tears at finally being together again, with both of them knowing that this was likely going to be for the last time.
"You risked it all, just to see me one more time, Sister, and for that, I'm eternally grateful."
"I know you are, Lizzy. My time ran out first, and yours will be up later this year. That's another reason why I ran; I'm trying to find us a new home-port." She then went on to explain more about Equestria, and the portal to it. "If my mission is successful, then it could be a safe-haven for you too, Sis."
Just then though, the Queen Mary began to shudder, and many of the ship's lights and other power went out, and two of her 4 propellers stopped turning.
"Let me guess, your ship's running on fumes?" Lizzy asked.
Mary nodded. "Yeah. I kept the ship's functions running at bare-minimum for most of the voyage. This enabled me to keep running at high-speed, but even that wasn't enough. Do you have any fuel you can spare?"
Lizzy smirked a bit. "For my Big Sister's quest to save her ship from California Hell? Of course!"
As people watched (and some crew tried to stop, but Lizzy once again refused to let them), hoses were strung between the two ships, and some of the Queen Elizabeth's spare fuel was transferred over to the Queen Mary, enough to enabler her to get safely back to the Bermuda Triangle with some to spare for her journey to Equestria. Once the refueling of the Queen Mary was complete, the ships turned until the Queen Mary was facing South, and the Queen Elizabeth was once again facing North, and once the 2 Soul-Sisters had given their tearful goodbyes, they blew their ships's horns one last time in goodbye, before steaming away again.
"So I guess there you have it, Folks." A news broadcaster told his audience. "The RMS Queen Mary and the RMS Queen Elizabeth meeting for the last time at sea, and with the latter giving her older sister-ship fuel, enabling her to continue on her way to.....somewhere. The RMS Queen Elizabeth has returned to her transatlantic crossing to New York, and the RMS Queen Mary has now turned South, and is heading back that way. Once can only wonder what will happen next."
Mary then steered the Queen Mary amid the now-oncoming naval ships, weaving around them, and making it clear that her intentions were to steer around all of them, and once she was clear of them, she was steaming Southward, trailed by ships of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet this time, as many of the ones chasing her before, including the USS Las Angeles were low on fuel, or needed repairs from having sailed so far around South America tailing the Queen Mary.
"And now I'm on the final leg of my journey." She thought quietly to herself. "Just one more sprint South to the Bermuda Triangle, and then I'll finally be through the portal."
And with that, the Queen Mary continued her final sprint.
It took another day or so, but by the morning of January 7th, the RMS Queen Mary finally reached the edge of the Bermuda Triangle, and entered it. The day was overcast, fog was in the air, the wind was blowing, and the seas were a bit choppy. It wasn't storming yet, but it looked like it could at any time. Mary quickly battened down the ship's hatches, preparing her for the incoming storm, which Queen Mary was well-equipped to handle, and had done so many times during her career, albeit, not without the rolling that she was famous/infamous for. As the ship proceeded through the Bermuda Triangle, Mary continued to look all around, trying to locate the portal to Equestria. She wasn't sure where exactly it was, only that it was supposed to be at, or near the center of the triangle, which due to it not being a perfect triangle made it hard to determine where exactly that was.
"Come on, where is it?" She muttered to herself. The weather was continuing to deteriorate, and she knew that time was running out, as there was no way she'd be able to enter the portal during a full-blown storm. "It's gotta be around here somewhere."
Suddenly though, off in the distance, she caught sight of a strange blue light shimmering in the fog. It stayed constant, and never moved, and Mary realized that she must be near the portal.
"That must be it!" She thought, elated. "Now I just have to reach it before the storm becomes too bad!" She continued to sail the Queen Mary towards the light.
After an uncertain amount of time, the portal's entrance was a few hundred yards ahead of the ship. It looked like a massive blue wall of energy that shimmered and waved, yet made no sound at all. Waves could be seen entering the portal, and disappearing from view into it. By now, rain began to come down, and the wind was really picking up, creating larger waves that began to buffer the Queen Mary, causing her to begin her (in)famous rolling.
"Oh no, not now!" Mary muttered.
She held the ship's helm steady, though because she didn't want to hit the portal going full-speed, she had to reduce the ship's speed by at least half, which she did so, as the entrance to the portal loomed just ahead.
"Almost there, just a little bit more. Come on Queen Mary, we can make it."
"......She was laser-focused on the portal, and upon reaching it, a large wave hit the ship from behind, giving it a boost, and sending it hurtling through the portal, vanishing from Earth." I then looked up from my notebook at the purple Alicorn sitting on a deck chair nearby. "That's all I have so far, Twilight. So, what do you think of it?"
The Alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, rubbed her chin with a hoof. "It's definitely interesting, Todd. Though I did have a few questions/points about it."
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well then, ask away, Twilight."
"Well, I guess first of all, you do know that the heavy cruiser USS Las Angeles CA-135 was withdrawn from service and decommissioned in November of 1963, 4 years before the Queen Mary even reached Long Beach, right?"
I frowned. "Yeah, I know. The only reason I did that was because she was stationed at the Naval Base in Long Beach. I had trouble with finding the names of ships that were serving in the Pacific Fleet during this time, both because names are a bit sparse without extensive research, and because many ships were sent to aid with the Vietnam War at this time."
"Oh. Well, I guess that that makes sense as to why you had the USS Las Angeles, and then didn't name any other ships. And I guess my other major points would be the response to the Queen Mary's impromptu voyage, the lack of anypony else trying to stop the ship, the response to her rendezvous with the RMS Queen Elizabeth, and I guess actually finishing the story."
"Yeah, those are all valid points, Twilight. Though this is just a first draft of an incomplete story, so I'm open to the criticism. Aside from the points you made though, did you like the story?"
Twilight nodded. "Yeah I did, Todd. I think that if you'd just take out the swearing, I think it could make a neat book for kids, or possibly teens too, once you finish it of course."
"Yeah, you're right, Twilight." I reply, rubbing my wrists a bit, one of them having the tattoo of a black pawprint on it. "But still though, it's pretty unique that I'm writing this novel about the RMS Queen Mary.......while we're here on the Queen Mary; me as a crewman, and you here to help with the restoration."
Twilight nodded. "Yeah. I thought you were exaggerating when you told me what kind of condition the ship was in after all these years, but damn. No, you were definitely spot on, maybe even under-exaggerating. It's been 53 years since the Queen Mary arrived here in Long Beach, and damn, the ship's condition really is horrible. You weren't kidding when you said that the ship's previous owners did very little, if anything to keep the ship maintained, prioritizing profits instead."
I frowned. "I'm just thankful the City of Long Beach stepped in after Urban Commons and Eagle Hospitality filed for bankruptcy, and I say good riddance. I never saw much of Urban Common's people, but I despised the ones from Eagle Hospitality. Their staff were fine for the most part, but those execs? F@#kin' hell, they were so snotty, entitled, condescending, snooty, and just all-around stuck-up assholes. I can't tell you how many times I almost let my intrusive thoughts win, and socked one of them in the face. It was only because I knew I'd lose my job, and make the rest of the crew, and Commodore Everette Hoard look bad."
I then sighed, before looking out over the starboard railing of the Boat Deck where Twilight and I were sitting, and out over the water of the Port of Long Beach. I was looking off into the distance, towards the drydock where the old RMS Aquitania was kept out of the water by her current owners. "How did things get so bad here on the Queen Mary? The owners of the now 106 year old Aquitania managed to keep their ship in good condition all these years, but then again, they're billionaires, so that's to be expected, I guess." I thought to myself.
"Yeah, I know how frustrating it must have been, Todd, but I think things are getting better now." Twilight said, seemingly not noticing my looking over at the Aquitania.
"Yeah, I think you're right, Twilight. Between you, Shining Armor, the rest of the Queen Mary's crew, the Human restoration experts, the Equestrian restoration experts, and the Griffon laborers who came to help, I think we'll have the Queen Mary back to tip-top shape in no time."
"I think so too, Todd." She then paused. "Oh, and I think I have something that'll be able to make the restoration process go faster than ever, with the results being absolutely immaculate."
"Really? And what would that be?" I asked her.
Twilight then reached into the saddlebag sitting next to her with her Magic. "Have you ever heard of a 'Restoration Spell'?" She asked me, pulling out a large book.
THE END........for now