//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: To the Sea // Story: Rainbow is Magic S2: Treasures of the Deep Blue // by aceotaku //------------------------------// A figure walked into a dark room, looking at a series of murals set high above. “They’re coming!” a figure called out from outside. The frowned and grimly drifted further into its home, beginning to sing a grim tune as they pulled a trident out from a locker. “Shiver my timbers Shiver my soul Yo ho heave ho There are creatures whose hearts Are as black as coal Yo ho heave ho” They began to sharpen each point of the three pronged trident as they sang. “And they sail their ship Across the ocean blue A blood thirsty captain and a cut-throat crew It’s as dark a tale as was ever told Of the lust for treasure and a love of gold!” They hefted the trident, throwing it aside as they began bang a hammer against several pieces of metal. “Shiver my timbers Shiver my sides Yo ho heave ho There are hungers as strong as the winds and tides Yo ho heave ho And the buccaneers Drown their sins in rum The Jester himself Would have to call them scum Every man aboard Would have killed his mate for a bag of pennies Or a piece of eight A piece of eight A PIECE OF EIGHT!” They began to affix each piece to a larger frame of metal, hammer banging away far more furiously and quickly. Elsewhere, a horde of figures stomped across a wooden deck, singing their own part to the grim song. “5! 6! 7! 8! HULA WOKA HULA WOKA SOMETHING NOT RIGHT! MANY WICKED ICKY THINGS GONNA HAPPEN TONIGHT HULA WOKA HULA WOKA SAILOR MARES BEWARE! When there’s money in the ground There’s murder in the air! Murder in the air!” “ONE MORE TIME NOW!” The figure in the dark room tightened many screws, bolts and straps as they worked, expression growing darker as they heard the voices outside. “Shiver my timbers Shiver my bones Yo Ho Heave Ho There are secrets that sleep With ole Davy Jones Yo Ho Heave Ho With the main sails set And the anchors weigh There’s no turning back From a course that’s laid And when greed and felony sail the sea You can bet your boots There’ll be treachery! Treachery! TREACHERY!” The moment their work was completed, they quickly dashed into the massive suit of armour they had repaired, closing it around themself and grabbing their weapon. “Shiver my timbers Shiver my sails DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES!” ------------------- Twilight walked through town, a large bag slung over her back, the Stetson she got from the head of the Apple clan sitting comfortably atop her head. She hummed a cheerful tune as somepony came trotting over to her. She turned to see it was Rarity. “Hey Twi!” The flight-obsessed unicorn greeted, her mane styled in a short, messy, spiky style, a black bruise around one of her eyes. “Goin’ somewhere?” Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I’m heading to Shetland Shore!” Rarity tilted her head. “Umm why? It’s not too far from here, I know, but they don’t really have a lot going on for them over there.” The purple unicorn raised a hoof to her mouth conspiratorily. “Well, I had an idea to help get the farm more revenue and bigger business, and provide more products for a wider variety of customers, so while mom and dad think I’m visiting Rainbow Dash for the weekend, I’m heading to Shetland Shore to investigate their fishing trade.” “Fishing!? But we’re ponies, we don’t eat fish! And last I checked, farms don’t really sell fish either.” “Some farms might!” Twilight exclaimed defensively. “Besides, while historically they weren’t able to in the past, nowadays ponies CAN eat meat and some consider fish a delicacy....it’s just the majority simply don’t due to tradition and the like. However, I want to both broaden our town’s horizons AND provide services for those who do have a greater palate, griffons for example.” Rarity put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Hmmm....” She shrugged, raising her hooves in the air. “You know what, forget it. I’m not gonna question it anymore, and I won’t tell anypony....on one condition.” “What will it be?” “I come with.” Rarity grinned. “I bet a lot of the sailors and fishermares there have tons of awesome stories plus I kinda wanna expand my horizons a bit, y’know? Explore someplace outside of Ponyville.” She nudged her leg against Twilight, winking. “Besides, we don’t really hang much, and I think this’d be a good bonding experience.” Twilight smiled, shaking the mare’s hoof. “Sure, it’s a deal. I’ll buy you some supplies and some lunch too.” “You don’t have to, Twi, I can fend for myself.” “Nonsense, I insist!” --------------------------- After having a simple, quick bite to eat, the pair had begun their journey to Shetland Shores. The trip was actually rather uneventful, and the pair soon found themselves at the famous docks of Equestria. Rarity grinned as she looked around herself, spying the various fisherponies and seamares walking around.”Oh! Let’s go to the pub, everypony knows that’s where all the toughest seadogs and pirates hang out and share wild stories!” Twilight chuckled. “Rarity, pirates aren’t actually a thing anymore, and they are not as fun as they are in fiction.” Rarity scoffed, rolling her eyes. “yeah, yeah, Rainbow Dash, sure. Look, just let me have some fun, alright?” Twilight shrugged and walked with the other mare to the local pub, a large wooden building filled with ponies, minotaurs, griffons, donkeys even a yak or two. Rarity smiled wide, stars in her eyes. “Oh wow! A real live pirate pub!” The mare squeed. This statement caused most of the patrons of the bar to turn to her direction, eyes wide. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Um we’re looking for a boat, we’re rather curious about the fishing industry here....” The crowd whispered among themselves as a grizzled yak trotted over, sporting three wooden legs, an eyepatch over his left eye and three scars over his face. “Lassie, you have no idea of what yer getting yerself into.” The yak gravely intoned. “The seas are CURSED, cursed with a vile, dangerous creatures that destroys boats and tears men of the sea to SHREDS. If ya need any proof, look at ME! My ship was torn to pieces, and when I was the only survivor, clutching a piece of driftwood...and then...I saw IT! Its hide was solid metal but it glided through the waters at an unnatural speed! It held its weapon aloft...and slashed me face and took me eye! I managed to survive and drift back to safety, but now none are crave enough to go out to sea lest they face the wrath...of the Sea Slasher!” An earth pony mare, coat brown and mane and tail bright red, shook her head. “Oh you daft, simple old yak, there’s far worse out there than your monster story. I saw a massive ship rise up from the waters, broken and derelict, as if it had sunk in REVERSE...but more shockingly of all, it had a crew! A crew of hideous monsters and savages, worse than pirates! A strange, round-headed creature that stood like a minotaur but with the height of a pony! A massive creature with eight mishappen, mismatched limbs! And many more besides! And their vile laughter filling the skies as they sunk as many surrounding ships as they could!” The bartender sighed, a brown-faced griffon. “No, no, you’re doing it all wrong! FIRST you entice them with tales of treasure and mystery, and THEN you try and scare them with the tales of monsters and pirates and ghosts and whatnot! Now they’ll be too scared to overcome the dangers in search of dreams and treasure, like the legendary Moonstone!” The yak and mare looked down at the floor. “Oh, aye, sorry there, we’re rusty at this, been a while since fresh blood came by.” The yak grinned, showing many missing teeth. “Oh pay no mind to us, it’s jus’ seafarer tradition to trade stories to inspire the adventurous spirit in newcomers!” Twilight chuckled. “well that was quite impressive, I almost started believing that stuff.” The yak laughed. “Oh, but it’s all true! I DID see the Sea Slasher!” “And a sunken ship did rise from the depths!” The earth mare added. “I saw it with my own two eyes!” Twilight’s irises shrunk at this, face paling. Rarity however, felt differently. The white unicorn hopped onto the bar counter, grinning wide. “Oooh this sounds exciting! What’s this ‘legendary Moonstone’ you mentioned?” The bartender smirked knowingly. “Oh it’s a very famous story around these parts. Legend goes that Luna, as Princess of the Moon, was also protector of the seas of Equestria, so she gave 1000 volunteers an enchantment that allowed them to breathe underwater and protect the Moonstone, a powerful artefact that granted whoever held complete mastery over water. However 1 year after Nightmare Moon was sealed into the moon, calamity struck the town and it collapsed into the ocean, and the townsfolk and the Moonstone with it, likely as a form of last minute revenge from the Queen of Darkness. However, legend says the Moonstone is still around, hidden in the ruins of the old town, protected by the lost spirits of the villagers, ensuring it was always safe.” Rarity grinned wide, stars in her eyes. “ooooh~! So the Moonstone is still somewhere in the ocean!?” “So the legend goes.” Twilight grabbed Rarity by the tail, pulling her over to her. “Alright, but seriously, I just want to see how the fishing business works here. Can you show us where we can learn more?” “But Twi!” Rarity complained. “I want to hunt for treasure!” The earth pony from early sauntered over, grinning wide. “I have a fair bit of knowhow there; we’ll just need some supplies and prepare the ship. You’re gonna love it!” “Thank you miss, and we’re always willing to help on our end too.” Twilight smiled. “We’d be grateful for your help.” ----------------------------- The mare soon gathered some equipment and several bags of food, leading to the pair to her ship as she gave them advice on how to fish, how equipment works, how to work different parts of the ship and several other key knowhow. The pair were flabbergasted by how much they didn’t know and just how much work and knowledge was needed, but were ready to learn. “And that’s not getting into the dangers of the sea.” The mare said. “What like monster and ghost pirates?” Twilight said with a light chuckle. “No, though those are a big deal, I mean stuff like sharks, mishandling of boat equipment, heatstroke, storms, tidal waves, coral reefs, scurvy, you name it.” The seafarer smirked. “One mate even lost a hoof to a swordfish. Impaled straight through.” Twilight gulped as Rarity chuckled, patting her own bag filled with medial kits and supplies. “We I got us covered in case something bad happens.” “And remember to supplie plenty of citrus fruits like oranges. Scurvy’s a nasty disease and you need a LOT of Vitamin C to combat it. Now, as for storms...” After the lecture and the group spent a fair bit getting prepared, they finally headed to the ship, a small little vessel with a large, mechanical crane on the back. Twilight was enamoured. “A real J.H.Irons XX07 original!? They don’t make THESE babies anymore, and not in such good condition!” The mare chuckled. “Thanks, ma’am, it was my pappy’s, he was a scavenger, using that beaut to dig any lost ships or treasures lost at sea, and he always come back with a story or two to tell.” “So it’s not used for fishing?” Rarity asked. Twilight laughed. “Even I know that’s a terrible idea! The hydarlics in this thing are WAY to strong, it’d crush the fish to bits! Plus they’d be way to fast for such a slow, methodical machine to grab anway.” The purple mare slid a hoof along the metal. “But just because it’s old and slow doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful and useful.” “yeah, yeah, come ON I wanna find some treasure!” The white mare argued. “Hey, this is about learning how the fishing industry works so we can expand our farm’s services!” Twilight responded sternly. “Not indulge in some need-in-the-haystack search for a treasure that may not even exist!” Rarity pouted as she trotted onto the ships’ deck. “You don’t gotta shout at me...” Twilight sighed. “I’m not shouting I just...don’t wanna waste our time right now. If I spedn too much time from my family they might worry...” “you didn’t tell them ANYTHING? Not even make up some story or excuse?” “Hey I’m not good at lying to my family, okay!?” Twilight cried defensively. “besides, it’ll be fine, look, we can go search for ‘buried treasure’ later, right now we shouldn’t waste this nice mare’s time as much as we have already.” “Not a waste at all.” The sea mare said as she hopped on board beside them. “I’d love to dig up something exciting on this trip, you never know what you could find out there. Let’s sail off girls!” ----------------------- The group sailed a fair distance from the shores, heading towards a largely unexplored area of the sea. Along the way, Twilight caught a fair couple of fish with her new fishing rod, while Rarity caught...an old boot. She glared at the piece of rubbish with sheer disdain. “You’ll get something eventually Rarity...” Twilight said optimistically, giving her friend a smile. “That’s not soon enough.” Rarity pouted. “Fishing’s boring, it’s so darn slow. Can’t believe you roped me into this...” “Hey this is my first time at this too...” “Yeah, but you’re having fun! You like doing slow, boring stuff!” Twilight frowned, glaring steely. “And what, pray tell, is so boring about the stuff I enjoy and work hard on?” “Ummm like a lot!?” Rarity answered, scoffing as if it should be obvious. “Now see here, my work is very important at the farm, and you don’t see me complaining about you not even managing to hold down a job, or being so reckless you hurt yourself!” Rarity butted her muzzle against Twilight’s. “You dissing my lifestyle, farmgirl!?” “You dissing mine, Brickbutt!?” The two growled, templars flaring without warning or reason, their escort too busy maintaining the engines to break up the fight. Surely nothing could stop this fledgling friendship from breaking. And that’s when the ship exploded.