Twilight shrieked in shock, her arms flailing about as she tried to steady herself before she fell over backwards with a loud splash.
Pinkie Pie only smiled as she looked over the edge of the dock, as the water below flashed for a moment. "You think we surprised her?!" She giggled.
"Darling. I think we gave her a heart attack," Rarity sighed. "We just couldn't wait inside, could we?"
Pinkie's smile only grew. "Where's the fun in that, silly?" She replied as Twilight came back to the surface with an annoyed look.
"Pinkie! What have I said about sneaking up on people? What are you girls even doing here?" She fumed.
Sunset sighed as she sat down at the edge. "I told them you didn't want any company. But Pinkie insisted on us coming. I don't know why I bother."
Pinkie nodded happily. "Yep. We need to celebrate! Just as soon as you stop being a mermaid. Why are you a mermaid? Weren't you human just a second ago?"
Twilight blinked. "Pinkie. I'm not a mermaid at the moment. I don't need to be."
Applejack shook her head. "Ya might wanna look again, sugarcube. Cause ya don't look human from the waste down to us." The rest of the girls nodded, as confused as Applejack was.
Twilight sighed as she looked down, and was shocked to see what had happened to her. She was back in her Mermaid form again. But that wasn't possible. "How? I didn't change on purpose. I didn't even think about it."
Rainbow groaned. "Can we please do this inside? I'm freezing out here." She pointed at the locket around Twilight's neck. "And where did you get that from? Same with this old dingey book," she asked, holding up the log.
Twilight suddenly remember what she had been thinking of before she had been surprised. Touching her breast, she changed back into her human form. "Let me get refreshed and warm, and I'll tell you girls the full story. I've had a long day." An evil thought came to mind, as she swam back over to the ladder and Pinkie offered a hand. "And Pinkie?"
"Yes, Twilight?" The party girl replied. Before she could say more, however, Twilight pulled her over the edge and dropped with a loud splash into the water. Pinkie bobbed to the surface a moment later, surprised.
Twilight giggled. "That's for scaring me half to death. Again."
Everyone broke out into a fit of laughter, and even Pinkie joined in after a moment, conceding that Twilight had got her good.
Sometime later, after Twilight and Pinkie had both refreshed themselves, the girls met in Twilight's bedroom. With no of knowing that they had been coming, the girls had to split between sitting on the bed or on the floor.
Sunset was busy looking over the logbook. "Where did you even get this from? This is older than any of us."
Twilight nodded. "I found that old shipwreck I told you about, Sunset. This was in the Captain's Cabin. Along with this," she added, holding up the locket. "It was all I could find though. I didn't look in the Cargo Hold."
"Where their any skeletons?" Fluttershy asked, unable to hold back a quiver in her voice.
Twilight shook her head. "No. In fact, aside from the desk I found these in, there was nothing else there. It was like nothing had ever been on board before then, and I was the first one there in a long time."
Sunset gave her a look. "So who built it?"
Twilight pulled herself close. "That's just it. I don't know. There weren't any identifying marks that I could see anywhere. From where I found it, it could come from either Great Brittain or Russia. It seemed too old for the United States."
She paused as she considered something. "And then there was the propulsion. Or the lack thereof any. No masts. no engine, or rowing benches. Or any sign that there had ever been any in the first place."
"So what's all that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked, bored out of her mind already.
Twilight shrugged. "I am not sure. But there is something definitely strange about that ship. There was no sign of what had sunk it. It was like it had been placed there on purpose." She looked over at Sunset. "Any luck with that book?"
Sunset shook her head. "No. Whatever language this is, I don't have a stinking clue of how to read it. Language was never my thing anyway."
Twilight sighed. "Darn it. I was hoping someone would be able to read it. Though I guess I can try a local museum. How I can explain how I got it is another story though. I do not want to end up in some government lab somewhere. It's hard enough hiding my magic."
Everyone winced at the thought. It was something they all had in common. None of them wanted to be dissected, or worse, just so someone could learn about their magic. Maybe not every country was like that. But enough were and were more than willing to do anything and everything to get their hands on magic.
Rarity cleared her throat. "Moving onto something less deplorable, darling. What are you going to do with the locket you are wearing? Are you going to keep it?"
Twilight shook her head, as she held it up. "No. I'm going to try and find the family that it belongs to. It's not right that I hold onto it. Maybe. Just maybe. I can give them some closure on a lost loved one. It's the least I can do."
Fluttershy smiled. "That's so nice of you, Twilight."
Applejack could appreciate the gesture, but she could also see a problem in it. "What if ya can't find 'em?"
Twilight nodded, conceding that point. "I have all the time in the universe, Applejack. As much as I don't want to think about it, time will never be an issue for me. I'm not getting any younger. Or older for that matter."
The rest of the girls shared a look. It was something they also tried not to think about, but the signs were already beginning to show in their friend. For Sunset especially, though she kept what she thought of them to herself.
Pinkie, though, seemed excited about something. "So what are we going to do underwater next? We have all day to waste!"
Twilight shook her head. "I'm not going back out. I was tossed around like a rag doll in that damn storm earlier! Once was enough, thank you. And I don't see any need. More of us only increases the chance we get seen. And there's another problem. A bigger one I feel."
"What's that?" Sunset asked though she had a feeling that she knew what it was.
Twilight held up her Pearl. "I don't even know if I can transform all of you at the same time. I've never tried that, and I don't know what could go wrong if I don't do something right."
"Didn't you and the princess do that?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight pinched her nose. "Yes, Rainbow. We did. Because there were only the two of us. And I had to completely and totally trust her when we did so. Somepony I still barely knew, and even calling us friends was pushing it at the time. If I'm being honest, I had more of a connection with Starlight than I did with the princess at that point, based on what each of us did."
Sunset winced at Starlight Glimmer's name, though no one paid it any mind.
Twilight shook her head. "So no. I'm not taking that risk with all of you. Not yet. Maybe one day I will try it out. I can't see why it shouldn't work. But for now, I'm leaving it alone."
The girls sighed in defeat. "Well then. What are we supposed to do?" Rarity asked.
Twilight crossed her arms with a snort. "Don't look at me. I wasn't expecting guests, so I didn't bring anything we could do." She looked at Sunset. "You didn't bring the Journal, did you?"
Sunset shook her head. "I was going to. But I got a message from Spike. Princess Twilight isn't talking to anyone until the Friendship Festival is over. That includes us. From what he told me, she had a breakdown of some kind earlier and had to be put to sleep."
Fluttershy gasped in horror before Sunset rolled her eyes. "Not like that. Princess Celestia just used a Sleep spell on her. She won't wake up till Monday morning. Her friends are covering for her now. Apparently, she was running herself ragged with work and worry. No matter how much the others told her to take a break. Not even her family could get her to stop."
Twilight winced in sympathy. She knew that feeling well. At some points, she wished that she'd had a Sleep spell put on her when she was out in her lab. She had lost count of the number of times she had run herself hagged when she was busy working on something.
Pinkie grinned as she reached into her hair and pulled out some playing cards. "Anyone for Poker?!"
The girls groaned. But there was little else they could think of to do, so they gathered around Pinkie to play.
Twilight rolled her eyes as she joined them. This weekend hadn't gone quite as she had planned for it too. But in the end, it had been worth it.