The sharks alongside the ship did not seem threatening, or at least not as threatening as sharks could be. I walked back to my customary position at the wheel and promptly forgot about them.
A few minutes later, Twilight came up to the deck in a panic. “We forgot to buy vitamins before we left the Kangaroo Kingdom!”
“We have some fresh produce,” I said.
“Not very much!” she wailed.
“When’s the next time we can pull into port?” I asked.
“Don’t you remember the map?” Twilight said. “We have no idea what’s out there!”
I thought for a moment. “Is it too late to turn around and go back? I really don’t want to get scurvy.”
“We could,” said Twilight. “We may have to.”
“Well, just a couple of days without vitamins won’t kill us,” I pointed out.
She sighed. “Okay. I guess we can go for just a little while longer.”
Not quite ‘a while longer,’ but still later in the day, I went down to the galley to see what I could find. Fluttershy had apparently taken the news about the missing vitamins pretty hard. Pinkie was bemoaning the fact that she hadn’t brought along enriched baking flour. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow all wore grim looks. Twilight seemed to be grinding her teeth together. I didn’t know why. That would only give her calcium shavings.
Spike looked unperturbed. I guess someone who ate gemstones got a lot of minerals.
I pulled out a can of sauerkraut and went back out on deck. Rarity would have been horrified by eating straight from the can, so I took it out of her sight.
I walked over to the railing and watched the sea pass by. “Oh, hey,” I said, spotting the sharks that were still with us.
“What’s up?” called one of them.
I swallowed a lump of sauerkraut. “Uh, well, I guess I am?”
The shark laughed. “I guess you are up there. Want to come down here with us?”
“Let me think about that for a moment,” I said. I walked back down below deck.
“Did any of you know that sharks could talk?” I asked.
Spike and the six ponies stared at me. “Really?” asked Twilight.
I shrugged. “One of them just did.”
All of us went back to the railing.
“Hey, you’re back!” said one of the sharks.
“Come play with us!” suggested another.
We all pulled back and had a quiet discussion.
Rainbow shrugged. “Well, they talk.”
“This is amazing!” said Twilight. “We’ve just discovered a new sapient species!”
“Ah don’t trust ‘em,” said Applejack.
“They are rather charming, in a roguish sort of way,” said Rarity.
“But the teeth,” worried Fluttershy.
“Woo! New species party!” exclaimed Pinkie.
“I don’t know about this, guys,” said Spike.
We all went back to the railing.
“Did I hear party?” asked one of the sharks.
“I’ve got to throw you a party!” said Pinkie. “I don’t know you, so you must be new, and if you’re new you don’t know any of us, and if you don’t know any of us, that’s sad, and so we should have a party and be friends!”
The sharks looked at each other. “Uh, sure,” said one of them.
"I think it's more important to set up relations first," said Twilight. To the sharks, she said, "Do you have a society?"
"Yeah, we've got our own little undersea country," said one. "It's pretty cool. You should come check it out and meet the Shark Supreme."
"I don't know," said Fluttershy.
"It's better, down where it's wetter. Take it from me," I said.
"See, this guy gets it," said one of the sharks.
"You're not from around here," I said. "Any time I quote The Little Mermaid, it means I'm making fun of you."
"Actually, this is kind of our territory," came the reply. "You're not from around here. But we won't hold it against you."
"They're awfully nice for how badly you treat them," said Rarity, glaring at me.
"Um, guys?" said Spike, quietly. "I'm not very good with the whole biology thing, but doesn't sharp teeth usually mean they eat other creatures?"
"That's what I'm worried about," said Twilight.
"Are they being nice just so we'll go down there?" asked Rainbow.
I shrugged. "One way to find out." I went below deck and came back a moment later.
"Here's to international relations," I said, and jumped over the side. "Cannonball!"
totallynotabrony dropped his cigarette in surprise. "Jesus! Valiant, are you an idiot?" He glared at the small figurine of Twilight on his desk. "Don't answer that."