//------------------------------// // Fifth Lesson- Ponies on the River // Story: The Magnificent Six // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Fifth Lesson- Ponies on the River The sleek ship sailed up to where the eleven ponies stood on the riverbank, coming to a slow stop and dropping anchor when it reached them. "Ahoy, my good ponies! A pleasure ta see all of ye!" A blue stallion with an orange mane called out from the deck. "Mister Salty, lower the gangplank so they may come aboard!" "Aye aye, captain!" A turquoise colt with a white sailor's hat saluted. "You heard the captain, lower the gangplank!" The pony sailors quickly brought the walkway down, and the small party trotted across onto the ship. The captain immediately trotted up to the group, and removing his tri-cornered hat, he bowed low before Cadence. . "Ah, Princess! Such a pleasure ta have yer beauty grace my vessel once more!" Kneeling, his kissed her hoof. "Too many moons have passed since I beheld thy glowing radiance!" "Oh, stop it, you old charmer!" The alicorn giggled. "It's a pleasure to see you again too, Barnacle!" "Ah, and such lovely young flowers ye bring with thee!" The stallion with the treasure chest cutie mark, bowed to the six fillies. "It is an honor to have the beautiful harmony bearer candidates as passengers on my ship!" "Oh my..." Poesy whispered shyly, using her tail to cover her face. "Such a gentleman..." Glory said dreamily. "And a hunk!" Firefly blurted out. "Ohhhh, what a hot fudge sundae!" Surprise squealed in delight. "Oh, brother!" Applejack groaned, trying to hide the fact she was staring at him. "I-it's and honor to be here..." Twilight asked, as the captain kissed her hoof. "Thank you so much for giving us a ride to the Royal Paradise!" "Ahhhhh, think nothing of it, missy!" The captain laughed. "Please, make yerselves at home!" As he trotted away from the six blushing fillies, the four colts standing behind the princess scowled at him. "Show off!" Lightning snapped. "Hot dog!" Thunderbolt growled. "What an utter ham!" Fireball muttered. "I can't believe our captain is such a filly's stallion." Tornado snorted, glaring at the captain. "Feel free to go anywhere on my ship, except me private quarters." Barnacle waved a hoof out over the deck. "Oh, and the six o' ye will be sharin' rooms with fillies from Dream Valley. They be on their way to the Royal Paradise themselves!" "Fillies from home?" Glory smiled. "Well, that should really be fun!" "Excellent!" Barnacle told them, bowing again. "Now, if ye will all excuse me, I must be getting us on our way again!" He turned towards his first mate. "Mister Salty, raise the gangplank!" As they crew raised the anchor and got the vessel moving once again, Twilight looked around at the sloop's brown deck, and massive white sails. "Wow, this is so amazing! I've always wanted to sail on a ship!" "I hope we'll see some sea ponies!" Surprise giggled, zipping up to the crow's nest. "Wow, girls! The sunset looks wonderful from up here!" "Speaking of the sunset, you girls had better go get some rest." The Princess told them, trotting over after speaking with one of the crew members. "Twilight, you and AJ will have your own room together!" "Sounds great!" AJ smiled, high-fiving Twilight with her hoof. "We could use some bonding time, anyway!" "Poesy, you and Glory will be rooming with Sweet Stuff and Truly Elegant." "Truly? THE MISS TRULY?" Glory asked, her eyes going wide. "Oh my word, this is WONDERFUL!" "Who is Truly?" Firefly asked, curiously. "Somebody ya know?" "Who is Truly? Oh, she's only the most elegant mare in all of Ponyland!" Glory squealed in delight. "I hope I can get some tips on how to style my mane!" "Oh my! Well, I'm sure I'll get along just fine with a pony named Sweet Stuff." Poesy whinnied, hiding her nervousness. "Surprise, you and Firefly will be sharing a room with two fillies named Fizzy and Whizzer, I'm sure you'll get along wonderfully!" "WHAT? The Screwball sisters?!" Twilight asked in shock, turning pale. "What is it, Twi?" Surprise asked. "Something wrong with those two?" The unicorn looked like she was going to say something, but a look from the princess silenced her. Twilight only shook her head sadly. "Oh dear girls, you're gonna have your hooves full!" "Excuse me, your highness?" Looking at his fellow colts, Tornado stepped forward. "But where will the four of us sleep?" "Oh, I arraigned for you boys to bunk with the crew for the rest of the journey." Cadence waved a hoof dismissively. "Now, would you all make yourselves useful, and please take the girls luggage below decks?" "Great." They all sighed in unison, trotting over to pick up the suitcases and bags the unicorns in the group had been levitating behind them the whole time. ... Below Decks, Firefly and Surprise flapped their way down the hallway, coming to a stop in front of one of the cabin compartments. "Well, this is the room!" Firefly told her friend, knocking on the door with her hoof. "I hope our roomates are friendly!" The door creaked open slowly, and the two fillies stuck their heads into the room. Suddenly, a pink blur with a rainbow colored mane zipped up into thier faces. "Ohwowyoumustbeournewroommates!" A rainbow-maned Pegasus blurted out. "Himyname'sWhizzerandthisismysisterFizzy! Werereallygladtomeetyouwhat'syournames?" The two Pegasus simply stared at her in silence, stunned, until the aqua-colored unicorn filly on the other side of the room finally spoke up. "Sorry about my sis there, she's a little on the speedy side!" The rainbow-maned unicorn with a five milkshake cutie mark giggled. "My name's Fizzy, and this is Whizzer. What's your names?" "Hi! I'm Firefly, and this here is Surprise!" Firefly pointed to the white filly behind her. "We're the harmony bearer candidates traveling with Princess Cadence. Nice to meetcha!" "Ohwowtheharmonybeaersthatssocool! Ithinkwe'llmakereallygoodfriends!" Whizzer zipped around the room so fast, Firefly could've sworn she was teleporting. "OhheyIseeyouraPegasustooifyoueverwannaraceI'llbehappytotakeyouonsometime!" "Uh, sure, I think..." Firefly replied, nervously. Something about this two fillies bothered her... and it wasn't the fact that they were both jewel-eyed ponies. "Nice to meet you!" Surprise trotted over to the unicorn sister. "You like playing games?" "Oh yeah, I can play games really well! Though I can play the tuba better- much easier instrument, ya know!" The bubbly unicorn giggled. "Say, are you two fillies? Firefly really sounds like a boys name, and if you two are colts, you really shouldn't be here!" It was at that point that Surprise, the crazy pony that everybody else called a dumb blonde, realized that she was in the presence of stupid... ...really, really stupid... "Hey, looks like you two have some heavy bags there!" Fizzy said, noticing the luggage the colts had dropped in the hallway while they were talking. "Here, lemme bring 'em in here for you!" Fizzy's horn began to glow, and several of the bags were encased in magic bubbles, and levitated straight through the room, and right out the open porthole on the opposite wall. The bubbles suddenly popped, and the bags tumbled downward with a loud splash! "Eeek!" Surprise shrieked. "My fake mustaches and whoopee cushions!" "NOOO! My copies of Playfilly! Even the beach stallion edition!" Firefly wailed, causing the other three fillies to stare at her. "What?" "Well, I'm sure you're a filly now!" Fizzy giggled again. "Sorry about that, though!" "Sorryaboutmydumbsistert!I'llgoflyoutandseeifIcanfishyourstuffoutandbringitback!I'mfastenoughtocatchupwiththeshipagain!" Whizzer zipped through the doorway... and immediately hit her head on the hallway wall outside. "OopsIreallyshouldwatchwhereI'mgoing!" The speedy filly laughed. Surprise and Firefly gave each other worried looks, afraid they might not make it through a night with these two alive... ... "Come in, the door's unlocked!" Glory and Poesy opened the door, and trotted into the room. There, a white earth mare with a dark pink mane and blue dove cutie mark lay on the bed, looking disinterested at the world. While a pale blue jewel-eyed earth pony with a rainbow mane trotted up to greet them. "Oh, hello there! You must be our new roommates." She smiled- talking in a quiet, kind voice. "My name's Sweet Stuff, and it really is a pleasure to meet the two of you." "Hi, my name's Poesy, and it's wonderful to meet you, too!" The yellow filly replied, just as timidly as the first. "I'm sorry if my friend and I are intruding on your privacy at all..." "Oh no, not at all!" Sweet Stuff replied sweetly, shaking her mane. "If fact, it'll be wonderful to have the extra company!" As the two shy fillies proceeded to apologize to each other, Glory walked over to the other elegant-looking mare nearby. "Excuse me, Miss Truly?" Glory asked, adjusting her mane with her hoof. "My name is Glory, and it is really and honor to meet-" "Glory, the harmony-bearin' filly everybodeh is talkin' abaout?" Truly snorted in an elegant southern accent. "Charmed ta meet y'all, both you ahnd your timid little friend over thair." "Oh, Poesy is a wonderful friend, I'm happy to traveling with her and the other girls." The unicorn looked back at her earth pony friend. "I had heard you had moved to Dream Valley recently, but I had no idea you'd be traveling to the capital!" "The Princesses asked me ta come and give them some tips on thair wardrobes." Truly replied, arrogantly tossing her mane. "Fashion and elegance are mah special talents, aftah all." "Do-do you think you could help me to become more elegant?" Glory asked hopefully, pawing her hoof at the ground. "Give me a few pointers and tips, I mean." "Wail, y'all cain start bah usin a shiner shampoo on thait mane, and a nice bath soap ta make yer coat shineiah!" Truly stood up, and walked around Glory, looking her over. "But the real key the real key ta elegance, is the confidance that y'all exude... it's all in haow y'all carry yerself!" Truly took a few graceful steps, and struck a pose. "Oh, how I wish I had your confidence!" The white filly sighed. "How I wish I could walk and talk like you!" "No, no honey... it's y'all wish ya could be more laike me." Truly corrected her, putting her hooves up to Glory's mouth. "Naow try agahain!" "Ah... wish... ah... could... be... moah... like... y'all." Glory said slowly, as truly manipulated the shape her mouth as she spoke. "Wail, that was a good staht." Truly said with a sigh. "Naow, let's move on to y'all's stance and phostyah." ... "Well, this is certainly a nice room." Twilight noted, looking around. "The captain said all returning filly and mare passengers request usually request this cabin, for some reson. I do wish a porthole so we could look out, though." "That's yer problem right there, Twi... ya always got ta see the bad side of things, and complain about what ya don't have!" Applejack trotted over to the wall shelf, setting her few possessions on top of it. "Why don't ya look at the positive, like the fact we have a cabin all to ourselves, while the other girls have to share theirs." "I suppose you're right, A.J., I do worry too much." Twilight replied with a sigh. "All right, Twilight, something's bothering you."The orange earth pony told her, in a knowing tone. "Out with it, now!" "It's just... I've often had daydreams about things like this- being a harmony bearer, going on adventures, falling in love- it always seemed like some kind of amazing fairy tale!" Her face fell. "But now that it's all actually happening, I'm afraid... afraid of how my life will change, afraid of how nothing will ever be the same again." "Change is always stressful kid. I know that better than anyone." Applejack snorted. "The trick is how you deal with it, and wither the anxiety will control you, or you'll control it. And who knows? That change ya feared, might just bring ya to a better place." "I suppose you're right, AJ." Twilight said with a laugh. "I suppose I have just been- wait, what are you doing?" Twilight noticed Applejack was over along the left wall, peering through a small hole. Curious, the pink unicorn trotted over to where she was standing. As she neared the hole, the filly swore she could hear running water on the other side. "Applejack, what are you looking-" Twilight started, before the orange filly put a hoof over her mouth. "Shhh! Be quiet, willya!" Applejack hissed in a whisper. "I just found out the guy's shower room is on the other side of this wall, and Thunderbolt and Lightning are over there washing right now!" "What?! Applejack, how could you!?" A scandalized Twilight snorted, blushing furiously. "You get away from there right this- oh, say, that colt's flank isn't too bad..." "I know, right? Ya never notice that when the fur on his coat is dry!" Applejack grinned, as the two fillies peered through the hole. "And take a look at that Pegasus!" "Wow, Firefly wasn't exaggerating about his-" She turned back to the other pony. "Say, you think we should go and tell the other girls about this?" "Nah, we'll let the others in on the fun later." AJ smiled mischievously. "Besides, Poesy would probably have a heart attack." "You have a point there." Twilight sighed. "And now I see why this cabin is so popular with the mares and fillies, though." "And it would explain how this hole got here." The unicorn whispered, as the two turned back to watch the show. "Hmmm, I wonder if Tornado is coming in for a shower..."