A Day at Sea

by Mystic Sunrise

Relics Of the Past

The next morning, Twilight sat on the edge of the dock, finishing off the last of her breakfast. Luckily, there was a Taco Bell not too far from the cabin that she had been to before, so going hungry was not something she had to worry about.

With the worries about if she could transform or not put to rest, she was anxious to see what else there was to see down there under the sea. Yesterday had been all about fun, and she wouldn't change anything about it. Today, however, she wanted to go exploring. There was a whole world out there just waiting for her.

If her brother was to be believed, there was an old shipwreck not too far away from here. She had forgotten about it yesterday, so today she was planning to make up for it, and to see if there was anything else to see.

Her phone buzzed. Looking down, Twilight saw that it was from Sunset. Rolling her eyes, she opened to see what the fiery-haired girl had sent her this time.

'So since you know that you can transform now, what do you plan to do for the rest of the weekend? Stay inside, high and dry?'

Twilight giggled, as she typed. 'As if. I plan to go exploring. There's supposed to be an old shipwreck around here. I want to see if I can find it. And anything else down there that I can find. I was so busy having fun yesterday that I totally forgot about it. I'll be gone all afternoon. I might even stay out after dark. See what that's like.'

'Well be careful if you do. Who knows what you might meet down there. We can get to you fast enough if something happens.'

Twilight groaned. 'Yes, mom. I'll be careful. I'm a big girl, Sunset. I think I can take care of myself.' She could almost hear Sunset's eye roll from here. But it did make her think of something from the night before. 'Before I go. Have you heard back from Pinkie yet? She got off the line really fast last night.'

'No. I called her family. They said she's fine, but that's all they could say. I tried asking the girls if they knew anything. They haven't called or texted me back yet. Pinkie's a big girl though. I don't think we need to worry about her.'

There was a short pause. 'Oh, horseapples. Someone's knocking rather incessantly on my door, Twilight. I gotta run. But I want to hear all about it when you get back, and I know the others will too. Bring us back some Dubloons.'

Twilight giggled as Sunset logged off. She didn't think it was a Spanish Galleon out there. It was far too north of the old trading route from Manila in the Phillippines to Acapulco in Mexico But it would be cool if she did find a treasure of some kind. She could always hope so anyway.

Finishing off the last of her burrito, she stood and stretched. It was a rather cloudy day today. She hoped it wouldn't affect what she could see under the waves. It wasn't something she had thought to look up before coming out here. But it was too late now.

Touching her Pearl, Twilight smiled, before she dove into the water, her body changing shape as it made contact with the water. Her smile grew as she propelled herself forward into deeper water. She hadn't even really thought of what she wanted to be. The Pearl had reacted on its own.

For now, though, she put it from her mind. Something to think about later. She had other things on her mind, and with a grin, Twilight tried to focus on something else.

Diving down to glide just above the seabed, she allowed the currents to take her wherever they wished. The fish and other sea life didn't even seem to mind her intrusion into their world, swimming alongside and all around her.

Her smile grew. There was such a beauty down here that she hadn't expected. The water was clear, and she could see for miles in any direction. Corral of all kinds, shapes, and colors, stretched out before her. It was a different world to the one she knew above the waves. Unspoiled by the hand of man.

Speaking of man, though. As much as she admired the endless beauty around her, Twilight also kept an eye out for any divers or boats. There was no way she could explain this if she was caught, and she wasn't about to be some experiment in a government lab, thank you very much.

Shuddering at the thought, Twilight saw a glint in the corner of her eye. Curious, she swam over to take a look. It was a coin of some sort. Picking it up and turning it over, she couldn't make out what might be on it. It didn't seem recent that was for sure.

"Just my luck that I didn't think to bring a bag if I found anything interesting," she grumbled. "Maybe I can ask Rarity if she could make me one? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Looking around, all she could see was a rocky ledge. It wasn't much, but she could see better on it. Setting the coin down there, Twilight made a mental note to try and come back for it. It would be a nice souvenir if she didn't find anything else.

Swimming on, she looked to see if there were any other coins. But she couldn't find any. Which was strange. Why would it be out here all by itself like that? Unless it had fallen overboard somehow. But Twilight didn't think it was that easy.

As she swam along, the seabed began to drop away. Twilight concentrated more on that now. If what Shinning had told her was true, then the shipwreck would be found in deep water. How deep she didn't know, but it was a good sign. And it was also a chance to test her body's endurance. Just how deep could she go?

She didn't have the time to swim all the way to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench or the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench, so this area of the coast would have to do for now. Who knew what she might find down here?

But as she swam on, all Twilight could see was the seabed stretching onto infinity. Nothing stood out against the sand and coral, and the occasional rock. Her only company was fish, stingrays, eels, and once or twice out of the corner of her eyes, a shark. None of which came too close to her.

The seabed continued to go down, the farther and farther away from the coast, Twilight swam. The gloom grew darker and darker the deeper she went. Fortunately, her eyes adjusted to the light conditions at a speed that surprised her. While it wasn't totally black, it was dark enough that normally she wouldn't have been able to see more than a few feet in front of herself. Yet she could see completely fine. Like it was the middle of a sunny day up on the surface.

"Where're my notes when I need them?" She grumbled, coming to a small rise. "I knew I should've brought something with me to write all of this down. It's bad enough I didn't think to write any of this down after coming back from Mount Aris."

And it was true. A fact that she could kick herself for. All the notes she had hoped to take when she had first gone to Equestria had gone out the window once she had been attracted to something more beautiful than knowledge. Just her luck.

Coming over the rise, however, Twilight's thoughts came away from what she could've and should've done, to look in awe at what was spread out before her.

Spread out before her was a shipwreck, but not like any ship she had ever seen before. Wood and metal seemed to blend together seamlessly, and ornate and intricate carvings covered every surface. What surprised her, however, was how intact the ship was.

Swimming over to the hull, Twilight could see that it looked almost brand new. No rot or rust anywhere. Doing a full circle around it, she saw that there was no sign of what had sunk it. It almost looked like it had been placed there on purpose. But that didn't make any sense.

Going up over the rail, Twilight saw that the decking was also intact, with only two holes leading down to the cargo hold. There were no mast stumps, or any sign of rigging anywhere as well, which only added to the mystery. There was also no wheel for which to steer the ship either.

"How did they move it then?" She asked herself, swimming over to the stern. She was no expert on seafaring, but there was something wrong about this ship. Having seen the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway, Twilight knew right off the bat that it wasn't Scandanavian. Nor had they ever come here as far as history could say. It might have been from Great Brittan or Russia. But where were the means for the ship to move?

Shaking her head, Twilight came to what she assumed was the Captain's Cabin. Opening the door slowly, she peeked inside. Just a desk and a window on the far wall that showed the ocean's depths beyond. At least there wasn't any skeleton.

It was a tight fit, but Twilight managed to squeeze her tail between the door frame and swam over to the desk. Nothing was behind it, and the view outside didn't show her anything she hadn't seen already. There were, however, several drawers on the desk. None of which were open, and none of which seemed locked.

Opening them one by one, Twilight felt her disappointment rise. Each was either empty or contained only writing utensils, stacks of paper long since turned to mush or other things she didn't recognize. Her hope was running low that she would find anything interesting at this rate, as she closed each drawer after looking inside each.

"Maybe this was a fool's chase coming out here," she sighed sadly as she finally came to the last drawer. If there was nothing in here, then she was ready to call this a bust. She doubted there was anything in the hold worth looking for.

But as she opened the drawer, her eyes widened in surprise, and a smile came to her face. Inside was a rather thick book, engraved with the sun, moon, and stars. It had to be the Ship's Log. But why had it been left behind? Wouldn't the captain have taken it with them if the ship had gone down? More questions that she didn't have answers to.

Beneath the logbook, lay a golden locket. Very gently setting the book down on the desk, Twilight lifted it out of the drawer. Turning it around, she saw that it had no names on it. Opening it, Twilight found a picture of an older woman, and who could only have been her daughter. They had no names attached, but she could see the resemblance.

Releasing a breath she hadn't known she had been holding, Twilight saw both were human. A sneaking suspicion had been growing in her mind since she had found the ship. No matter how improbable it was. But no. This ship was human-made and had not come from Equus. How or why it had sunk, or why it looked as it did, she did not know. But this was still something.

Looking at the log, Twilight couldn't wait to start reading it. Not only was it something new to read, which she was always looking for, maybe it could shed some light on this ship and where it had come from.

Fastening the locket around her neck, Twilight held it up again. She would never think of keeping this. It wasn't hers to hold onto. If she could find the family to who it had once belonged. Maybe, just maybe, she could help them finally find some closure and peace for a lost love one. It was the most she could do.

But when she looked out the window again, she finally saw how dark it was becoming. She could barely see a few feet outside now. Her tail drooped at the sight. As much as she wanted to stay here longer, she was now worried that she wouldn't be able to find her way back home again if she did. It was time for her to go.

Picking up the logbook, Twilight closed the drawer and made for the door. She would leave this as she had found it. Who knew. She might come back out here again one day. There might be more that she hadn't found. For now, she had enough to keep her occupied.

Closing the door gently behind her, Twilight began to swim up to the surface. She didn't have an exact bearing on where she was. Seeing the sun would help with that.

Several minutes later, Twilight broke the surface and immediately had a wave crash over her. Thick black clouds roiled above her, and the rain came down in torrents. The sea was boiling, and Twilight had to fight to keep herself from being thrown around by the waves.

"Just my luck. I come up in a storm!" She fumed, fighting to keep the seawater out of her mouth. Mermaid or not, her physiology perfectly adapted for this kind of life, she hated saltwater. Her mother had washed her mouth out with it enough times to ram the point home.

Looking around, all she could see was the storm-tossed seas. Above her was nothing but black. Diving back down, she considered her options. There was no way she could navigate on the surface with this storm going on. She had a vague idea of which way the coastline was. If she followed the seabed, and it continued to rise, then she was going in the right direction. Swimming back down to the wreck, she tried to get her bearings.

On one side, the seabed dropped off into a black abyss a few feet from the hull. How it had missed going over the edge was beyond Twilight. But it did show her two things, however. One was which way she didn't need to go. Another was that, for as pitch dark as it was, she could see where she was going as clear as day. Strange. Was it something to do with being a mermaid?

She shook her head, as she swam to the other side of the ship, one that she soon recognized as where she had come from. "Not the time, Twilight. Get back home. And then worry about anything else."

Modding firmly, Twilight began to retrace her steps, hoping she hadn't swum too far off course.

"Worst case? I'll say that I got lost while I was out swimming," she told herself, formulating a plan in case she came ashore someplace other than her cabin. She just hoped that if she did, whoever found her was nice and that they could point in the direction of home.

***

How long it took, Twilight didn't know. It felt like hours. There was no light for her to follow, and the few times she went to the surface, the storm still raged. All she knew was that the seabed continued to rise. She could only hope and pray that meant she was going in the right direction.

Finally, however, she broke the surface, and all but squeed as she saw the mainland in the distance. The storm had blown itself out it seemed, and now the sky was almost dark as the sunset beyond the horizon. She could see lights on the horizon, guiding her home.

Swimming on the surface for a few moments, Twilight finally made out the dock that lead to the cabin. By sheer dumb luck, or something else, she hadn't been blown too far north or south. But why did it look like there were people on it? No one was supposed to be there... Eh. Maybe she had been out to sea too long and she was seeing things.

Diving back down, not wanting to attract attention in case someone was watching the ocean from one of the neighboring houses, Twilight put on an extra burst of speed. Within moments, she saw the pilings of the dock ahead of her. When she was sure she had come to the front end of it, she came to the surface once more. With an effort, she was able to get the logbook up onto the wooden planking. It was a miracle she hadn't lost it in the storm.

Her hand went to the locket around her neck. She was glad she hadn't lost it as well. Only then did she remember the coin she had first found. She hadn't thought to look for it again, and she wasn't going back out tonight to look for it. Maybe she could find it the next day.

Shaking her head, Twilight swam around to the ladder, before touching her breast, willing herself to change back into her human form. She smiled as she did, before pulling herself up the ladder. Aside from the storm, today had been a good day. And with any luck, she might find out from the logbook what had happened to the ship and who it belonged to.

However, as she came to the top step of the ladder...

"SURPRISE!"

Author's Note:

So I decided to do more with this story. Not sorry. Even more so with how I ended this chapter. It was just too good not to. And I blame TheOneAJ and a comment they made, among other users, for the ending.

For some perspective. This version of Equestria Girls takes place in the Pacific Northwest. In either Oregon or Washington state. I can't decide which. But it's one of those two. It's not California for sure.