“This is marvelous, absolutely marvelous” the relaxed voice of one Rarity Belle was clear and loud enough for the other six girls sitting in lounge chairs. The seven friends were relaxing and some were almost sleeping due to how calm everything was in the open sea. All the friends were wearing gear for the summer and alongside sunscreen and sunglasses they were using their time correctly.
“Rarity, are you sure this is alright? I mean, is not that I’m not thankful for what you did but, I mean, is just-”
“Ah think that what Fluttershy is tryin’ to say, is, are ya sure it was okay to bring us to this? Even though it was a prize, this is a little extreme, don’t you think Rarity?”
“Oh nonsense Applejack, I mean, sure, it was a nice prize. Look, my parents are not the kind of people that will go on a travel like this; they prefer their road-trips and as much as I love them and Sweetie, the idea of spending hours upon hours in the same car with them did not seem appealing. Besides, the prize said seven people and I couldn’t imagine going on a trip like this without my best friends.” Rarity explained while she hugged the closest girls she had at her sides, in this case Fluttershy and Sunset. This last one enjoyed the hug -it was probably a remnant from being a pony most of her life- but there was something telling her there was something bizarre in all that.
“I don’t know guys, I mean, a trip on a cruiser for exactly seven people? There is something wrong in all that.”
“Come on Sunset, why don’t you take it as some karma for all the times we saved the world?” Rainbow said adjusting her sunglasses while she continued to soak up the sun rays; at her side a tall glass of iced cold tea. From all the friends, Sunset thought she would be the one that would enjoy the least considering her image as tough sporty girl, but apparently she wasn’t immune to being pampered.
“Maybe you are right, but… I don’t know, I have this feeling telling me that something will happen.”
“Well, I would call you spoilsport but… well, let’s be honest; since we gained those magical powers of ours there is no shortage of magical altercations, not that is your fault my dear.” Rarity answered back also knowing that strange stuff always happened to them every single time they tought they were safe from them. Last years’ camp experience had showed them how cursed they were in terms of not having a normal life.
At their side, the only one who had never talked the whole time had been a bespectacled girl that seemed to be very into the book she had brought with her. She was obviously not reading as her eyes were unfocused and they heard one more sigh coming from the girl. Her friends then got closer as they began to whisper.
“So, what is going on with the egghead?”
“Rainbow, I thought we agreed to not call Twilight that, it is really unbecoming no matter how much our friend loves science.”
“Hey, it fits.”
“Can we get to the point of why Twi looks so down?” The blonde quickly went back on topic.
“I think it is about Timber,” The redhead of the group told the other girls who quickly asked with their eyes for more information “apparently he is going to get married this August.”
“Oh poor Twilight, her heart must be broken after knowing something like that.”
“Wait, were they still dating? I thought Timber lived in another city.” Rainbow asked a little confused.
“Oh Rainbow, something like living far away from each other is merely an excuse, love can triumph against everything.”
“He got a girl pregnant and he is 23 years old.” At Sunset’s words even Rarity changed her tune.
“On the other hand, maybe love is not all that you need.”
“Whoa nelly; how the hell that happened?”
“I could explain to you the birds and the bees but I’m sure you are not asking that. So apparently they decided it was simply summer love and they became pen pals of some sort while seeing if they could continue their relationship; then Timber found out Twilight was a minor and bailed out before the police found out. A couple of months later he finds out he had a one night stand with a girl he met at a bar and the rest is history.”
“I’m confused about the older than Twilight thing.”
“Apparently neither Gloriosa nor Timber knew we were high school students; they thought we were at college or something like that. Apparently we act way too mature to be on High School.”
“Ah, girls.”
“How could they not know? That’s ridiculous.”
“Girls.”
“Hey, I’m just saying what Gloriosa told me.”
“You talk with Gloriosa? What’s with you and older girls?”
“Girls.”
“Hey! Sugarcoat is only a few months older than me, or at last the ‘me’ on this side of the mirror, okay? Besides, it was only one date!”
“GIRLS! SOMETHING IS COMING!” Fluttershy’s voice broke the argument as everyone on deck turned at where the usually quiet girl was pointing at. They all saw a sudden surge of magical energy quickly flying through the sea, and with one fast swoop it went through the whole cruise ship, rocking it a bit as the seven girls had to blink to get the spots of light out of their eyes.
“Alright, that was weird.” Sunset said shaking her head before taking a look around deck and the rest of her friends “Is everybody alright?”
“Oh captain, that was such a big wave, please tell me we are not traveling in the direction of a storm.” A woman that resembled Upper Crust -one of the students back at Crystal Prep- said looking directly at Sunset before a man put a hand on the woman’s arm.
“My dear, I’m sure that it was only a big wave, there is no need to bother the captain for something like this, excuse us.” The man simply said making Sunset arch an eyebrow at what had just happened.
“Okay, that was weird.”
“Sunset, what are you wearing?” Rarity’s voice made Sunset turn around to finally see her friends, who were all now wearing a white and blue uniform like the people who worked on the cruise ship; looking down herself she saw that she was also wearing the same type of suit as the rest.
“What the hell is going on?” Rainbow also said completely freaked out by the change in attire.
“I have no idea, but if that beeping is clear, we have something from Princess Twilight.” Sunset said as she took out a very familiar book out of her bag “it says that there was some kind of magical mishap on Equestria. Apparently, there was a magic swap mistake of some kind and everyone the wave touched exchanged works with someone else.”
“Wait, something like that exists in your world?” Applejack said with one of her eyebrows raised in sheer astonishment.
“There is a literal hell back in Equestria; this is little in comparison with other things.”
“So what does this mean then Sunset?” Rarity asked checking her attire and liking the navy blue jacket that it came with.
“Well, apparently we are the new crew of the Pacific Princess.” Sunset said already feeling the biggest headache of the year.