//------------------------------// // Whatever Floats Your Boat. // Story: Across the Dimensional Divide // by StrawberryGamer //------------------------------// Caboose: I can't believe Church shot me... Church: Oh, don't even start Caboose! ~Red vs. Blue I stared my opponent down intently. She was just about to give up. I could feel it. I still had an ace up my metaphorical sleeve in case I needed it though. I winced, feeling a sudden pain from my lower area. I think it was my tail. Looking down, I noticed I had my tail pinched between my ass and the seat and pulling slightly. I shifted my sitting position slightly to free my tail, as I moved it around. It felt weird to just wag my tail like that. It felt good actually. I continued to swish it around. I think I caught myself smiling too. Who knew having a tail would be so fudging awesome? I heard a giggle from my sworn enemy, and turned to glare at her. “What’s so funny?” I asked with malice. “My tail is awesome. Just look at it.” I lifted my tail so she could see it. She giggled again. “I had no idea you rolled that way. Too bad I don’t.” She said. Wait, what was she talking about? My look of anger melted into confusion. “What are you talking about?” I asked. “When a mare waves her tail like that, she is sending a visual message.” She explained. “What kind of message? I thought it was a show of strong emotion, like cats and dogs when they wag their tails.” “We ponies don’t wag our tails with those emotions because we have evolved beyond that. We can easily show our expressions through other body languages and facial expressions. The waving, wagging, and lifting of the tail is reserved for more… intimate expressions and emotions.” My supreme arch nemesis explained. Oh. OH. OHHHHHHHH! Fuck no! Was I hitting on her? “Uh, you know what? Forget I ever did that.” I said with an awkward look along with a blush plastered on my face. This was really awkward. The enemy waved her hoof at me. “Already forgotten. Now, we’ve tangented enough. Let’s finish this.” She said, and made her move. “Check.” What? I looked at the board. Oh. Damn… Time to employ my ace. “Board flip!” I yelled out, flipping the board over Octavia’s head. “There, now it’s a draw.” I turned and got off on my hind legs, then I realized I was a four-legged creature instead of a two-legged one, so gravity played its cruel tricks on me. I fell over sideways, landing right on my right wing, pinching it in a very uncomfortable position. “Owowow fuck me sideways with a knife this hurts.” I said, getting up on all fours again. I heard Octavia giggle again. “Did you forget you were a pony?” She asked mockingly. “Yes Octavia, I realize I forgot I was a pony for a second. I’m still rather new to this.” I said, flexing my wing. It felt better now. “Is the ferry here yet?” I asked. Confused? Yes, it is called a time jump. I simply jumped past the boring chess game. I also missed telling you about the trip to the ferry terminal. Can you believe the ponies kept the ferry system? Even better, they expanded. With all the small towns they added, they built ferry terminals for each one by the water. Most of them are simply passenger ferries, but a few, like the ones that we’re waiting for, are still meant for vehicles. Most of the vehicles here are large carriages filled with cargo. I noticed two other cars, occupied by humans. Must’ve been tourists from Seattle. That meant humans still lived in Seattle. Ugh, this situation is confusing me. Either way, aside from ponies taking over, everything seemed normal. It’s not easy to explain. Talk to Twilight about it. I’m sure she can explain it better than I can. Anyway, we arrived at the terminal just in time to see the ferry leave. That meant a very long wait, hence the chess game. Since it was over though, it was time for me to find something else to do. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check out those cars over there.” I said. I left the RV and walked up to one of the cars, a blue Smart car. Seriously, why the fuck is someone trying to fit a family in this little thing? Makes me wonder how the Reds and Blues would handle it. My guess is a lot of yelling. I approached the car and the driver seemed to notice. He rolled down the window. “Yes, can I help you ma’am?” He asked. I ignored the ma’am part. I was gonna snap if I had to endure that for too long. “Uh, yes… I just wanted to talk. Because you have a Smart car.” I tapped the side for effect. “Yes, I have a Smart car. No, I don’t want to talk. Go away.” He raised his window back up. I huffed in annoyance. Okay, so that guy was a bastard. Oh well, he probably has a stressful lifestyle, right? Ha, I call bullshit. He had a Call of Duty T-shirt on so he obviously has nothing to do today. I bet he is just taking the ferry just because he can. He must feel like a total badass. Of course, since he's driving a fucking Smart car, it's all for naught. Sucks to be him, I guess... Walking away from the fuel-efficient vehicle, one of the ponies in a cart waved to get my attention. “Hey, you, the yellow mare. Come here for a second.” He called out to me. It must have been me. I didn't see any other yellow mares. There was an orange stallion, but that's not even close. In fact, fuck him and every other stallion for just being male. I looked at the pony calling for me. He was a tan unicorn with a short yet well groomed mane. He had a tie on, which was interesting. The tie was red. Nothing wrong with that. Carefully approaching him, in case that tie had a knife, I gave him a smile and a wave. “Hi. What do you need me for?” I asked. He gave me an examining look. “You seem like a pretty fit pegasus. Would you mind filling my water bottle up with rainwater?” He requested, holding out a large blue water bottle. “Please?” He added with a small smile. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at this pleading he is doing. On one hand-er, hoof, I could help him out, have a clear conscience, and good karma. On the other hoof, I could reject him, laugh in his face, or even take a big shit in his bottle. Now, while that would be hilarious, I'm not that kind of person to just shit in other people's bottles. So I took the bottle in my hoof and nodded. “Sure thing. I'll be right back.” I said. Flying into the air once again, I looked down at the ponies and scattered humans below me. The lot was getting quite full, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I flew up to the nearest cloud and began compressing it, shoving the moisture into the bottle. This was pretty awesome in my opinion. I mean, here I am, filling a water bottle with a cloud. I am truly living the dream. I took note of the condensation of the cloud. Okay, this was not going to work out. Oh, I just got an idea. I held the bottle in my mouth, twisting my neck so it stays upright. I took the cloud in both hooves, held it above my head, and wringed it like a towel. The water dropped right into the bottle, just as I planned. I let go of the cloud and took the bottle in my hoof again, capping it and flying back down. I searched for the stallion and landed beside him. He waved at me. How nice. “Alright whatsyourface, here’s your bottle.” I said, holding it out to him. He took the bottle and placed it in his saddlebag. “Thanks Miss.” He said with a smile. I did my best to smile in return. Oh, how I hated the female terminology being used towards me. I had to endure though, for the sake of myself. I looked over towards the terminal where the walkers waited to board the ferry and saw a light brown earth pony mare, staring right at me. She was waving at me. It felt a little weird. I decided to wave back. She looked away. Hmm, odd… Not really something to be worried about. I might see her on the ferry though. If she’s not a creeper, we could have a talk then. If she is a creeper, we could have a problem. Even so, I’ll never know unless I talk to her. Turning away from the terminal, I went over the second human vehicle here. This one was a minivan. That possibly meant a family inside. The presence of an Elmo window shade confirmed that. Fuck Sesame Street up the ass with a Spork. That’s right, a Spork. Not a spoon, a Spork. I felt weird today. Must be the fact it’s my third day as a Pegasus mare. I hate my life sometimes. The driver seemed to notice me and rolled down her window. She was blonde. I had no problem with that. “Yes, can I help you?” She asked. I heard the chatter of children in the back. I guess there were two young children and one older one. I shook my head. “No, I’m just being nice and saying hi. Can I do that?” I inquired. It felt okay to just say hi. That wasn’t weird at all, right? No, of course not. This was completely normal, so I kept a friendly smile on my face. “Yes, of course you can. It just is weird for me to be greeted by every pony I meet.” “I understand. Sometimes ponies are just too friendly. We need to pound each other in the face sometimes.” “I wouldn’t say that. It’s just sometimes ponies don’t know the meaning of privacy.” “Yeah, I see where you’re going with that. It makes sense. I like my privacy sometimes. Well, see ya around, maybe.” I turned around and left the minivan behind. I would probably see them again on the ferry. I looked over at the water and saw the ferry was almost here. That was a relief. I guess it was time to head back to the RV. I looked over where I saw the brown mare. She was still there, looking at me again. She was pretty far away, but I could see a smile on her face. Well, I guess I should say hi. I could catch up with the others on the ferry anyway. I hovered over the crowd and started to fly – still the best method of transportation ever, by the way – towards her. I could see her smile and wave, so I returned the gesture. Then, her facial expression changed from happiness to worry. When I saw that, I stopped and looked at her, confused. She pointed up behind me and I turned to see what she was pointing at. It was the brown Pegasus stallion from a few days ago that I saw sleeping with Ocean Wave. He was flying right towards me. He looked pretty mad, and was that rope in his mouth? Oh shisno on a stick. He must be trying to take me back home. Well I’m rather disinclined to go back now. Plus, knowing how Ocean thinks of me, he is beyond reason. I’m going to have to fight my way to the ferry now. Too bad I suck at fighting. He came right for me in a flying tackle, which I just barely avoided by dropping to the asphalt and landing flatly on my hind legs, wings flared for balance. I have no idea how to fight in this body, so I’m just winging it. Ha, get it? Oh, I’m so funny… He dropped face first onto the ground and jumped back up. “Sunshine, I know you’re in there. Resist the chaos and come back home with us. If you won’t, I will have to drag you back myself.” He said. I gave him a blank look and shook my head. These ponies are stupid. Just plain stupid. “Very well then. I guess I’ll just have to make you come along. It’ll be tough having to drag you back home, but I’ll just have to manage.” He said, and jumped at me again. Wow, these ponies are REALLY stupid. I quickly dived to the right. I didn’t want to hit him but since I’m defending myself, I guess I can get away with it. As he missed me, I turned and gave him a swift kick in the side with a hind leg. I heard a grunt of pain from him as he fell over. Okay, quickly, while he is still down, I needed to get away. I flared my wings and took off towards the RV. He might be less tempted to fight me when there are a bunch of friends backing me up. Then I noticed a certain lavender unicorn standing between me and the RV. Seriously, how does Twilight tail me so easily? Oh, that’s right, she has teleportation. Damn. Lucky bitch. Okay, looks like I’m gonna have to hold my own until the ferry starts letting everyone on. Then I can board the ferry without any more problems. I flew towards the terminal when I noticed that damn stallion get back up. I quickly laded and tried to hide among the crowd as I made a dash for the light brown mare that was still waiting for me. I paused once and looked back. The stallion seemed to be asking Twilight a question. I didn’t hear any of it, but Twilight shook her head and the stallion hung his head and slowly flew away. I can guess what that short conversation was though… “Twilight, did you see where Sunshine went?” “No, I did not.” “Horseapples, what will I tell Ocean now?” Yep, that’s about how I predict it went. Only one problem with that. I know Twilight saw me. So that means she lied to him. The question is why would she do that? I looked at Twilight. She looked right back and winked at me. Then her horn lit up and she vanished in a flash of purple light. I will never understand that unicorn. Ever. Either way, I am glad that conflict has passed. I turned back around and cantered up to the mare. She smiled as she saw me approach. “Hi there.” I greeted her. “Hi. My name is Ceruline. What’s yours?” She asked. Okay, I got a greeting, a name, and a question. She didn’t blow up in my face, so I can assume she is not a creeper. Good. “My name is Sunshine. Good to meet you. Why are you going to Seattle?” I gave a return question. “I’m on vacation. I thought it would be good to see the sights of this wonderful world. What about you?” “I’m just passing through. I’m on a road trip with some friends.” “Oh really? Can I come? I’d love to see more of this world than what I can just walk to.” I gave that a bit of thought. “The RV is already pretty crowded. I guess we could squeeze you in though.” I said. I heard a squee from Ceruline and before I knew it, she had me wrapped up in a hug. I was stunned for a moment. Then she realized what she did and pulled herself away. We both had blushes on our faces after that. “Hehe… Sorry about that…” She said sheepishly. I simply nodded and looked at the ferry. They were letting everyone on now. “I’m just gonna… just gonna get on the ferry now… You can come with me.” I managed to say, though it sounded half an octave higher than normal. I don’t know why she just hugged me like that. Either way, it happened, and that’s that. I walked onto the ferry, the brown mare behind me. At least I think she was. It’s hard for me to tell what is behind me. Once I was on board, I flew up to the top deck and took a seat on a bench looking out at the water. In this time, I finally got a moment to appreciate the calm, sunny day. It was quite serene up here. No one was up here yet, so it was quiet, for the most part. It reminded me of whenever I used to take the ferry to Seattle. I would enjoy walking down the halls, sitting on a bench, or talking with strangers. There was this one guy I met a few times as I went to and from Seattle for a Mariners game. We had some good talks. The Mariners may have lost the game after a few extra innings, but I didn’t stay for those. I looked up at the blue sky, which was dotted with white clouds that were no more than a wing’s flap away, thanks to magic. I am more of a science lover, but that is just me. Either way, staring at those balls of condensed water vapor was relaxing. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some brown. I saw that Ceruline had found me and moved to my side quietly. That mare is a ninja, I swear. At least she hadn’t disturbed the peace. I felt the boat shift as it began to move. I have no idea what chaos will be waiting for us in Seattle, but I am content to sit here peacefully for the full hour. Oh, if only it were that easy… “Sunny! There you are!” I wouldn’t say Vinyl disturbed the peace for me, but she certainly knows how to make herself known when she wants. Her sudden shout definitely got my attention though as she cantered up to where Ceruline and I was. “We were wondering what happened to you. Lyra was worried you might have been left behind.” She said, worry evident in her voice, but relief in her posture. Ponies are so easy to read. Good to know she cared about me though. I gave Vinyl a wave with a wing, just because I felt like it. “Nope. There is no way I could have been left behind. Wings, remember? I could have just flown onto the boat.” I told her. “Oh, right. I forgot about that.” She chuckled sheepishly, but returned to her usual stance. Then her attention was caught by the quiet mare beside me. “So, uh, who’s this? A new friend of yours?” She asked. I nodded. “Yeah. Her name is Ceruline.” I said. Vinyl waved at her and she waved back. Good. Vinyl works fast with making new friends. I got up from the bench and walked over to the railing to watch the scenery pass by. I stood up on my hind legs and leaned against the railing. I noticed Vinyl do the same to my left. “You know… I’ve lived here for a few years now… I think five or six. Anyway, I didn’t take the ferry often. When I did though, it was always relaxing to just sit back and enjoy the ride.” I said. I had a calm tone in my voice. I felt it soothing to hear. I almost forgot it was my own feminine voice for a moment. Almost. My ear twitched in irritation as it registered the remembrance. Vinyl gave a nod and a thoughtful hum. “Well, I won’t deny it is nice to relax sometimes. I like to kick back and relax with some light wubs after a big party.” She said. I looked out at the water as we went on by. It was wet and salty. Enough said. Then I looked out at the land and watched the waterfront property roll on by, metaphorically. There were some nice houses. Most of them were two or three stories tall and had their own dock. Not many had a boat visible though. I then looked overhead. I saw a few seagulls flying over the ferry, along with a single purple Pegasus mare. Her mare and tail consisted of rainbows, mush like Rainbow Dash. The position of the stripes was horizontal instead of vertical though. I also saw her cutie mark, which was two rainbows between clouds. Interesting, a double rainbow… That reminded me that I didn’t see Ceruline’s cutie mark before. I looked back at the mare and shifted my eyes toward her flank. She had a golden compass as a cutie mark. So she’s a navigator then? I’ll have to ask her later. I turned to Vinyl. “So, where are the others?” I asked. I hadn’t seen them, so I assumed they’re below deck. “They’re on the floor below us. Well, everyone except Tavi. She’s still in the RV.” Vinyl replied. Okay, my assumption was obviously correct. Hooray, Captain Obvious strikes again! “Well, that’s okay, I guess. I’m gonna rest up here for a few minutes. I’ll be down shortly. Why don’t you take Ceruline with you? Introduce her to the others. Show her the RV. I’ll be fine up here.” I said, and waved a hoof. Vinyl nodded. “Alrighty then. Come on Ceru, let’s introduce you to the others.” She led the ninja mare down to the deck below and out of sight. I took another look around. The only ones here were me and the rainbow mare above me. I trotted over to the other side of the ferry and leaned against the railing there, watching the scenery go by some more. I don’t know how much time had passed when I heard the sound of tapping right behind me. I turned and saw Twilight Sparkle there. She had a frown on her face. “Yes? What is it Sparkle?” I asked, rather impatiently, I might add. To be honest, I was getting tired of dealing with her. “I… got your note.” “And?” “It made me think… When we first arrived in this world, I was fascinated with the new species of sapient creatures known as humans. I thought for sure we would live in harmony together. Humans were so advanced and able to do so much. I spent hours studying everything about human science and culture. Sure, you can’t control the weather, but you can shape the lands and build so much.” “Yes, humans are a species of incredible potential. But let me take a guess… You found their stupid side.” “If you want to call it that, I guess… I saw they were capable of so much creation. But then I found out they were capable of so much destruction. So much chaos.” “I wouldn’t call it chaos as much as I would call it human stupidity and ignorance. Ponies have it too, but they have learned to look past it. Humans are too blind and stubborn to accept harmony. It is not chaos that drives them to fight and kill each other for resources.” “Have they always been like this?” “Not always. In the very beginning, humans were primitive, but they were still very resourceful. More importantly, they were in harmony. You ponies are similar to that. You have evolved beyond that of basic necessities, but don’t expect peace to last as long as technology grows.” “I see… Thanks for sharing this. So, how are you adapting to being a pony?” “I fucking love it. Much better than being a human. Though the whole gender thing is gonna break me.” “That was kinda the point. But if you like it so much, why do you want to go back?” “I have friends. My friends. TRUE friends, who are there for me. I earned those friends. They were not given to me like Snowstorm was.” “But you’ve made friends here too. What about Vinyl and the others?” “Twilight, once this is over, we will both learn a valuable lesson in friendship…” “Maybe… But I have one more question.” “What is it?” “How do you know so much about us?” I paused. She didn’t know about the show in my world? Maybe I could use that to my advantage. “I don’t really know… Was that your doing?” “I might have given you a few memories of us to get you started. There is no harm in that, right?” “I dunno. I can still remember my other life. But I just want to return to that life. Haven’t you ever had that feeling? The feeling of wanting something back?” “Well, there was my Smarty Pants doll. After I lost it, I really wanted it back. But after I found out who her new owner was, I gave her up so they could both be happy.” “Right, but this is a case where I’m not happy with giving up what I lost. I want it back.” I turned away from Twilight. The conversation was killing my good mood and I didn’t want her to see my face anymore. I could feel my eyes starting to tear up. I didn’t hear anything behind me, so I turned back and saw that she had teleported away. Seeing as I was alone, I let the tears flow freely as I collapsed on the floor. “I just wanna go home…” I don’t know how long I lay there, sobbing. It must have been several minutes because I heard footsteps coming towards me. I looked and saw what I can only assume to be Tyler’s legs. “Why are you crying?” He asked. Not waiting for an answer, I felt his hands wrap around me and he lifted me up, cradling me like a child. “Come on, I know what will cheer you up.” He started to walk back with me in his arms, still sobbing. He took me down the stairs and to the rest of the group, who had taken a bunch of chairs and moved them around in a circle. Tyler sat in a chair and laid me in his lap. I could feel the stares from the others. I didn’t look at them and instead looked up at Tyler. I realized something. He was a big man, and I was a very little pony. This did not make me feel better, so I just rested my head against him. He responded by stroking my back with his hand. It was rather soothing. It felt good to be petted like this. Before long, I felt the tears stop and a smile on my face. I didn’t want it to end. From my side, I heard Starry’s voice. “Did you feel homesick? Don’t worry, you’ll be home before you know it. I’ll make sure of that.” She reassured me. I responded with a nod. I continued to lay there for a few more minutes. Then, I heard my stomach rumble. It goes without saying that I was pretty hungry right about now. Tyler must have heard my stomach. “I’ll get you something from the vending machine.” He said. That was my cue to get off of his lap. I did so, albeit rather reluctantly. Tyler got up and walked towards the vending machine. I took this moment to steal the chair he was using. Ha, sucker. He came back with a bag of cookies in his hand. He chuckled when he say me. “Here you go.” He tossed the bag of cookies at me. Vinyl caught it with her magic, opened the bag, and passed it to me. “Thanks, Vinyl.” I took the bag and started eating the cookies inside. I love cookies so much. Especially chocolate chip ones. They’re so good. When I was done with the cookies, Vinyl took the empty bag and threw it in the trash. “Thanks again, Vinyl.” Lyra spoke up after a few seconds. “So what’s the plan for when we get to Seattle?” She asked. “I guess the plan is to find a pony who knows where the portal to Equestria is.” “Why would you want to go to Equestria?” “Two reasons. First reason is just to say that I’ve been there. Second reason is to find a way home from there.” “Oh. Okay…” Lyra went silent. Seeing as no one else felt like talking anymore, I got up off the seat. “I’m gonna see how much farther we have to go.” I cantered over to the front of the ferry. I saw we were very close to Seattle now. I couldn’t envision it much longer than a few minutes until we arrive. I looked to my left and saw the rainbow mare again. What I noticed now that I didn’t notice before were her eyes. One was blue and the other was red. Whoa, that was pretty cool. I smiled at her. She noticed me and smiled back. “Hi there.” She greeted me. “Hi, my name is Sunshine.” “That’s a nice name. Are you going to Seattle too?” “No, just passing through. I’m hoping to gather some information about getting to Equestria.” “You’re looking in the wrong place. You should go to Yakima for that.” “Really?” “Yeah. That’s where I arrived from Equestria.” “I guess I better stock up on supplies then. I hate driving to Yakima. There is a great produce and antique store I visited once on the way. I don’t know if it’s still there. I hope so.” “Well I wish you luck. Maybe we’ll see each other someday.” “I’d like that. See ya.” I turned and walked back towards the group. They were laughing about something. I don’t know what. I never found out. Lyra noticed me approach and waved. I cantered over to them. “We’re really close. We should get back to the RV now.” The others nodded and got up from their seats. We all walked down the stairs. Actually, I flew. I still can’t walk down stairs. Stairs are evil. EVIL I TELL YOU! When we got to the lower deck, there were ponies hitching themselves up to their carts. Tyler opened the RV for us and we filed in, one by one. I took a seat next to Ceruline. Octavia was already sitting across from us. Vinyl and Starry sat on the bed. Tyler sat in the driver’s seat while Lyra sat shotgun. It was somewhat peaceful. Everyone was in a good mood. As the ferry docked slowly, it was time for us to depart. Tyler put his foot on the gas pedal and the RV drove away from the ferry and onto the streets.