//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Gilligan's Island; Aloha, ponies // by Fireheart 1945 //------------------------------// "Gilligan, for the last time," the Skipper insisted, frustrated, "There are NO talking pink horses." "Oh yeah? Tell that to the one I saw." "It's all in your head, Gilligan; say it." "No." "WHAT!?" the Skipper shouted, turning menacingly toward Gilligan. "It's all in my head! It's all in my head!" the frightened first mate yelled out. "That's better. Now, every time you think you see that little pink horse, I want you to tell yourself that." "Okay, that." "Yes, I..." Realizing what Gilligan had just said, the Skipper took off his hat and whacked Gilligan in the chest with it. "Don't be smart." "Sorry, Skipper." "Okay, but remember; every time you see the pink horse, just tell yourself, It's all in my head." "It's all in your head." "GILLIGAN!" "Okay okay! It's all in my head!" "Yes, and it's gonna stay that way, understand?" "Yes sir." "Good." The Skipper turned to leave the hut. "Now, the Howells need someone to fix up their hut, the girls need someone to help with the laundry... seeing as a big knucklehead went and ruined all their hard work. And I'm going to need help building the new aqueduct the Professor's trying to build." "Yes Skipper." Gilligan didn't sound too pleased, but then again, he rarely did when someone gave him work to do. "First things first; go over to the Howells and begin repairing their hut." "Okay." Gilligan got up and stretched, accidentally hitting the Skipper in the face with his left arm and knocking him down. "Oops!" the first mate said, turning around. "Gilligan," the captain said, getting up. "Yes?" The Skipper took his hat off to hit Gilligan again, who ducked before the blow could hit him. Without missing a beat, the Skipper hit him in the head, then replaced the hat on his head. "Now get to work!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gilligan hammered another makeshift nail into the house, the banging of the hammer echoing throughout the little clearing. He'd been at work for an hour or so, and so far, there had been no signs of pink horses or anything of the like. Mr. Howell walked outside. "Well, Gilligan," he said, "this looks to be first class construction; you ought to have a raise." "Thanks Mr. Howell!" "Of course, multiplying nothing by nothing still equals nothing." "Thanks, Mr. Howell," Gilligan repeated, in a much different tone of voice. "Oh you're welcome my boy," the millionaire replied, oblivious to the offense he'd caused. "Now I'm off to enjoy a game of golf with Lovey." "Don't forget to bring an extra pair of pants." "Why would I do that?" "In case you get a hole in one." Mr. Howell struggled for a moment to figure out the joke as Gilligan got to work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I don't know what could be wrong with Gilligan, Skipper," the Professor said as he set down a book on mental illnesses. "He's not typically delusional, he's eating fine, and he's in relatively good shape." "Well, something's got to be happening to my little buddy if he's seeing Technicolor horses," the Skipper replied, scratching his head. 'Is there anything you could think of? Even if it's only a thought, it could help." "Hmm." The Professor thought for a moment. "I suppose he could be in the beginning stages of madness brought on by being stranded this long on the island." "But then why haven't any of us begun to crack yet? Gilligan's such a happy-go-lucky guy, he'd be the last person to suffer from anything like that." "I'm not sure. But we have to stay vigilant, and watch for any more signs of a loss of sanity from Gilligan." The Professor stood up and walked past the window. "The signs would be obvious; strange doings, taking to himself, and continuing his absurd claim to have seen a horse with a color that is genetically impossible to obtain." "Okay, so watch him for any of those signs." "Yes, and don't let him know about it. If he sees you, tell him anything, just not that you suspect he's going insane. Be casual." "Right." "Oh, and Skipper?" "Yes?" "Tell the Howells and the girls about this development as soon as possible, and tell them what I told you." "Sure thing, Professor." The Skipper started to leave. "What the...?" The Skipper turned around. "What happened?" The Professor was staring at his bookcase. "Several of my volumes regarding travel and scientific theory are missing!" "Did you lend them to somebody?" "No. They were here when we started talking. Someone must have swiped them while we were discussing Gilligan's problem." "I didn't see anyone come in!" "Neither did I." The Professor turned to look at the Skipper. "Whoever did it was certainly sneaky. Neither of us heard or saw anything, but while we were talking the books vanished." A look of shock crossed the Skipper's face. "You don't think Gilligan did it, do you?" "It's a possibility. He has been able, when troubled or out of it, to pull off surprising things." "Should I..?" "No, don't discuss the robbery to him at all, it might set something off. I'll talk to the others, you keep an eye on Gilligan." "I'll go do it right away." "Good." The Professor watched as the Skipper left the hut. "We have a mystery on our hands," he said quietly to no one in particular as the door shut. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, some distance away, several ponies had gathered to discuss their situation. "Did you find anything, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked. "No," Twilight said in exasperation, "none of these books discuss anything relevant to our problem. We're stuck here for now." "Aw shucks," Applejack muttered. "What're we gonna do, then?" "I guess we'll just try to survive on what we can gather." "You aren't suggesting we eat raw coconuts and milk, are you?" Rarity asked, a look of dissatisfaction crossing her face. "It's highly irregular." "And what about those creatures?" Rainbow Dash asked. "They could try and attack us." "I don't know, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! seemed okay," Pinkie replied. "Just really shouty and running away-ish." "I'm not sure what to expect from them either," came a voice from a resting form under a bush. "Please Princess," Twilight said worriedly, "You were affected by the spell more than any of us; you should be getting your rest." "I have strength enough to speak to you," came the response from the curled up Princess Celestia. "I think we should keep our distance until we've found out more about them." "Aw, I was planning to throw them all a big party!" The Princess chuckled. The pink pony's antics and attitude were inspiring as well as funny. "I must ask you to postpone it, then. Just until we can be sure that we're safe from them." Pinkie's face fell momentarily, but bounced back pretty quick. "You can count on me, Princess," she said at last. "Twilight, I would like for you to watch these creatures, and gather what information you can as long as you remain out of their sight. And that goes for the rest of you." As she heard the affirmative answers, Celestia thought briefly what kind of genie they might unlock through their course of actions. So far, none of these beings had shown aggression, although Twilight had admitted that the one they called "the Professor" had been upset by the thievery - there was no other honest way to put it - of his books. And apparently the one they called "Gilligan" was thought to have gone crazy when he had seen Pinkie, and he was to be watched by "the Skipper," obviously a sea captain of some sort. Otherwise, though, their information about the inhabitants of this island was precious little, and until they knew more, the only reasonable option was to try to survive while gathering information and clues. She had tried already to effect the sun of this world, only to find that it had been far beyond her ability and the range of her magic to move even slightly. As for the moon, she decided that there was no reason to upset the balance. As always, thinking of the moon made her think of her younger sister. Oh, Luna, I'm so sorry. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Five hours earlier Celestia walked into the throne room. Various mages and scientists were busily at work, studying papers and jotting down notes. Most didn't even seem to notice she had come in. She waited; this was a project that required intense concentration and every bit of knowledge these ponies had. Finally, one deigned to look up and see her. "Princess Celestia!" he exclaimed. "I apologize sincerely. I didn't know you would come early." "That's ok. Is the machine ready for it's test run?" "Yes, Princess, we're just doing the calibrations and calculations for the point of exit." "Good." Celestia knew the object in front of her - a large oval mechanism with a spiraling light in the center - was more than just crazy babble and junk. It was to be a revolutionary product, one that would accelerate transportation to almost faster than light speed. The portal was based off of the spells unicorns used to teleport, and was designed to bring the user much farther away than a unicorn normally could under it's own power. In effect, a pony could step into this machine and instantly find themselves in a town on the other side of the country. If it went well, the portal could be used for worldwide travel instead of just inside Equestria, which was the current plan for it's implementation. Best of all, it could be utilized by all ponies, and even non-ponies, so pegasi and earth ponies wouldn't have any problems. Nothing could be simpler. She, the Bearers of the Elements, and her sister would walk in and find themselves in Fillydelphia. The reporters were probably already waiting there, eager for the amazing story they would be able to bring to the media. "Twilight, are you sure you and your friends are ready?" she asked the unicorn she had taken as her student. "Oh, yes, Princess!" The eager unicorn's voice squeaked with eagerness. "This is so exciting! Just think, this will change everything!" "I'm glad you're eager for the task." "I'm glad you invited me and my friends for the test run," Twilight answered, looking up at her mentor. Celestia smiled. She loved that her student was so willing to learn, so willing to try new theories and explore the unknown. She had her quirks, yes, but then so did everyone. "We're ready as ever, Princess!" Rainbow Dash announced, doing a flip in midair in excitement. "Darn Tootin"," Applejack agreed. "I certainly hope we can be back for lunch and a trip to the spa," Rarity commented. "There will be time enough for that once we get back," Luna stated. "We'll be in Fillydelphia for about an hour before coming back using an identical device there." "I just want to get back in time to feed my animal friends," Fluttershy said quietly, as was her way. "Just think, with this new... thingamabob, I could throw parties all over Equestria in the blink of an eye!" Pinkie said, bouncing up and down. "Your Highnesses," one of the scientists said abruptly, "it is time for the demonstration to begin." All eight ponies walked forward until they were standing just in front of the teleporter. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, standing nearby, nodded in respect to Celestia and Luna, and both shared a loving glance at Twilight, who smiled and waved to them. Three unicorns aimed their horns at a gem at the top of the machine and fired beams of magic into it; she joined them, adding her magic to theirs. The gem began to glow, and the light in the center of the portal began to accelerate it's spin rate. Well, this is it, Celestia thought. Just then, the gem began to spark, and streaks of energy started shooting out of the central light. The three unicorns, shocked, disengaged the spell. It was too late. There was a blinding flash, and then the world went dark. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia slowly regained consciousness. The first thing she was able to discern was that she had a massive headache, as though she had been drinking throughout the night. She hadn't, of course, she didn't drink alcoholic beverages but that was what it felt like. She opened her eyes. Standing over her were the Bearers of the elements, all six of them; clearly they had been watching her, hoping for the best. From the looks on their faces, they might have been afraid that she had died, which was a reasonable fear. She groaned. Pain came from all four legs, stretching down from the knee to the fetlock - as hooves weren't connected to the nervous system, they didn't feel anything, which was a mild comfort, as the pain she was feeling right now was intense enough as it was. Looking at her forelegs, she saw that they had been bruised and burned. The other six ponies were in better condition. "Oh thank goodness you're alright, Princess," Twilight sighed in relief. I don't know if you could say that accurately; I feel hurt all over. Nonetheless, she was relieved as well. The next thing she noticed was the sand on the ground and the trees. Unlike the trees in central Fillydelphia, they had palm leaves, not the nettles and maple leaves of the trees in that town. Another was the lagoon; unless the planet had drastically changed in the space of a few hours, Fillydelphia wasn't a coastal town. "Twilight, do you know where we are?" she asked, hoping her student would have better information. "No, Princess, I'm sorry; as far as I can tell, were on a tropical island in the middle of the ocean." Twilight sounded helpless, as though it were her fault they were in this mess. "Have you found my sister, at least? I can't see her with you." Twilight and the others glanced at one another with concern. "As far as I'm aware, she didn't come with us," the purple unicorn said quietly. "I think I heard her step back before... this happened, so I think she's still back in Canterlot." Celestia didn't know quite what to think. It was comforting to know that her sister wasn't lost on some forgotten island in the middle of nowhere. On the other hoof, she didn't know the condition her sister of the others were in after the machine malfunctioned, as it obviously had. Several images of Princess Luna lying wounded, hurt maybe even... No; I will not even think of that. She refused to believe anypony had died, especially her sister. Considering that she and the Bearers had come through without too much harm - the pain in her body tried to contradict her on this - the ponies back at the castle had probably come through okay. Probably. She saw a bunch of bananas* in a tree. It wasn't her favorite food, but it was something she could eat, and she was feeling hungry. She used her magic to levitate one out of the tree. Or rather, she tried to. The bananas didn't move an inch. "Princess, I don't think you should be straining yourself," Twilight fussed. "Your horn is burnt pretty badly. I wouldn't be trying to use magic." Of course. Celestia hadn't even considered the effect of the misspell on her own magic. In other spells of similar strength that had failed, unicorns had regained their magic in time, but had been temporarily deprived of it after the intended effect had backfired. "Here, let me get it," Twilight offered. To Celestia's mild surprise, she was able to levitate a banana down without incident. Then she realized something; she had personally taken part in the spell to activate the portal and Twilight hadn't. As such, she had burned out her magic reserves when the machine malfunctioned, taking greater injuries as a result because she had been involved, while Twilight and presumably Rarity had been relatively unaffected. The loss of magic was a bit disconcerting, but at least they had something to eat; at least that's what she thought as she ate the banana. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Present time Celestia had regained the use of her magic by now, but she was otherwise still weak, weak enough that she could barely stand. She had to wait as Applejack used a hoof to break open a coconut before being able to take a sip. It was unlike anything she had drank before, but at least they had food and drink, and the capacity to build shelter for themselves. After those needs were fulfilled, then they could find a way to return home. "Pinkie, Rarity, I want you to gather food for us." "You bet, Princess!" "I vow I shall do my utmost." "Rainbow, Applejack, find some materials we can use to build ourselves shelter." "On it!" "Y'all can count on me!" "Twilight, I want you to continue surveillance on the creatures here, and keep track of our supply situation." "I won't let you down!" "And Fluttershy, please make sure any animals we find know that we have no intentions of harming them." "I will." As her subjects set off to fulfill the tasks she had given them, she made sure to make herself comfortable. The sunlight and the heat of the day was making her sleepy, and she hoped she could find a way home in her dreams. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Note, I do not mean anything inappropriate or indecent by using bananas in this story; in any story I make, a banana is a fruit to be eaten, nothing more.