//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Gilligan's Island; Aloha, ponies // by Fireheart 1945 //------------------------------// "No Skipper, I don't as of yet have any explanation for the explosion you and Gilligan heard," "Professor" Roy Hinkley said to the Skipper, formally Jonas Grumby but more commonly referred to by his rank. "Only theories." They were in the sailor's hut, discussing the noise the two crewmen had heard. "But... but... don't you even have a theory?" "Well," said the Professor, thinking for a moment, "it might have something to do with atmospheric conditions; in some cases people have been able to hear loud noises over a hundred miles away from the event causing them, while people closer to the event were hardly able to hear anything out of the ordinary." Still worried, the Skipper asked, "Are you sure it's not the volcano again?" The Professor shook his head. "Certainly not. I've been keeping track; it's been dormant if not extinct since our last encounter with it. We'd know if the volcano was erupting again." "Well that's a relief." The Skipper looked outside. "It's not a storm, that's for sure." After all the castaways' acquaintance with storms, it would have been obvious if the weather had taken a turn for the worse. He was about to speak again, when something came to his ears; "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...." "Hey Professor, what's that?" "Hmmm. If I had to guess, Gilligan is about to come screaming into camp for some reason." Sure enough, the yell grew louder; "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"" The two men turned to each other. "Gilligan," they said in concert. Gilligan stopped screaming; the Skipper opened to the door to see that Gilligan had run into the clothes line, entangled himself in the garments, and fallen down. He was now on the ground covered with half-dry clothes. Mary Ann and Ginger were standing over him. "Oh, Gilligan," Mary Ann said crossly, "we worked all morning to wash those clothes." "Now we have to do them all over again," Ginger huffed angrily. "Mmhp mmmp mmhm mmpm," Gilligan responded; his mouth was full of clothing. Walking over, the Skipper said, temper rising, "Gilligan, take the shirt out of your mouth so we can hear you." Gilligan unplugged his mouth and stood up slowly. "Sorry, Skipper." Oh, how many times have I heard that?, the captain thought to himself. "Now tell us why you came running and screaming into the camp?" "Oh, uh that, uh, hmmm," Gilligan replied, thinking. "Can you remember?" "Well I was running for five minutes; that's a long time to remember." "...Well?" "Er, well, I was fishing, and then I heard someone talking." "Who?" "It wasn't any of us, that's for sure." That caught the Professor's attention. "Did you say it was someone from off the island?" "Uh.... well..." "Spit it out, Gilligan," the Skipper said menacingly. "...I went to see who was talking, and then this pink horse jumped on me and knocked me down." The Skipper was incredulous; "Did you say a pink horse?" Gilligan, there are no species or subspecies of horses that are naturally colored pink," the Professor said almost automatically. "Then it's unnaturally pink; I saw it, then it talked to me!" "Now I know that's impossible," the Professor said in disdain. "There are no other species, other than homo sapiens, on our planet that can speak in a complex language." "Oh yeah? What about parrots?" "Parrots only copy what other people are saying. And no horse has ever shown the ability to speak." "Gilligan," the captain asked, "are you sure you didn't just doze off and dream about this... thing?" The first mate considered. "Well, I was on the ground." "There, you were dreaming. Now get back to work on the raft." Gilligan was about to comment, but then caught sight of something pink up in a tree across from him; it was the same pink horse he had seen on the beach, staring right at him. He opened and closed his mouth, opened and closed it again. "...Gilligan?" the Skipper asked. "He looks like he's in shock," the Professor noted. "Well, Gilligan," the captain pressed, "what is it?" The first mate pointed. "That." Everyone else followed his gaze... And saw nothing but a tree with a couple of coconuts growing near it's summit. "Oh, Gilligan," the Skipper began angrily, "GO FINISH THAT RAFT!" "But I'm not done fishing-" "THAT"S AN ORDER!" More afraid of his commanding officer than of whatever it was that had been in the tree, Gilligan not only went to it, he ran toward the beach, fearful of the captain's wrath. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Why me? Why always me?" Gilligan said quietly as he hammered another nail into the wood. It had been less than an hour, and here he was, still working at building the raft, and all without a bite to eat since breakfast. He reaching to a tin can nearby to get another nail; his clawing fingers could grasp nothing, so he lifted the can and looked into it. He was out of nails. Sighing, he reached for a second can he had placed on the raft for just such an occasion. It wasn't there. Puzzled, he looked under the sawhorses the raft was currently on top of; he could see nothing but sand. "Looking for this?" A can and a pink hoof crossed in front of his face. "Oh, thank you." Gilligan took the nail can and went back to hammering. Then it hit him; who had said that? And more importantly... who had just passed him the can? He looked to his left and saw an excited pink horse with a pink balloon mane and large eyes looking back at him. "Hi, Aaaaaaaaaaaa, how are you today?" Gilligan gulped. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed, and bolted again for the treeline and hopeful safety by the little collection of huts the castaways called home. Meanwhile, back at the raft, Pinkie stood with a surprised and puzzled expression on her face. The foliage behind her shook and the leaves clashed; seconds later Twilight Sparkle walked out into the open. "Hey Pinkie, was that you who screamed just now?" "Oh no, that was Aaaaaaaaa, he seems nice." "Who, now?" Twilight asked, looking interested. "Who?" Pinkie returned. "He's my new friend, that's who he is!