The Interdimensional Adventures of the S. S. Aweship

by SilverOrion

Pilot: Casting Off

For some reason, you're not sitting down at your computer reading this. No - instead, you are somewhere else - on a beautiful coast glowing gold because of the sun beating down onto it - with the sun setting over the water, giving the ocean a fuchsia and goldenrod blend. Orange trees line the orchard next to you, owned by the Orange family. You're standing there, by yourself, staring out into the beautiful sunset.

Don't ask me why you're there, because I have no idea. In fact, why are you there anyway? What kind of person just stands still on a vacant beach in the evening staring off into the sea? ...Ahem.

Anyway, like I was saying, you're standing there, standing off into the ocean, and.... Woops, did I mention you're 50 miles away from Manehattan? In the world of Equestria? Well, now I did.

So you're standing there. Staring into the ocean. On a beach. All by yourself. Nobody (erm, pony) is around you (except me, of course). You're by yourself.

Of course, all fantastical things happen when you're alone...

Because after you were thinking all of this gibberish about what fantastical things happen when you're alone, you notice a ship coming towards you in the distance.

You have no clue what it is, so help you Celestia.

Or Luna, or... Who cares? Anyway, there's this ship, see? And it's sailing right towards you, and... Huh, it's growing.

Yep, it's definitely growing, because as you continue to space out in a trance at this little ship, it is actually getting wider, and taller, and diagonally greater than it was one second ago. Two seconds ago. Three seconds ago. Four seconds ago...

Of course you're smarter than I am, because after you got out of the way of the ship like the smart one you are, that ship slammed into me.

Knocked me back a good ways, too. Gee, now you just took out the narrator. Who's gonna tell this story now?

After running up to me to see if I'm okay (which I'm obviously not from what you can make out) you, of course, say "Are you okay?" to which I utter a helpless "Grt thrs ****** shrnd rrt rrf mer moth, yerr ******* erdiert!"
After continuing to shout muffled profanities from under the sand, you (kindly) drag me out of the ground.

Welp, no story for you. Because now that I'm out of commission, who's gonna tell the story now? It's not like there's any other authors out there who can help you out.

The Captain hops off the ship and gallops up to you, and stops. His assistant carries along a desk behind him, immediately placing the desk down in front of the captain. Wait - not there! No, stop! I'm in front of the captain! Don't put the desk here you-!

PTHUNK!

"Good job, my skipper Puck," The captain says, "I'll just be taking over as the narrator temporarily until the understudies arrive. Please, sit down in front of my desk, and I'll tell you my tale of the Marediterranean and the Seven Galloping Seas - or more accurately, how we got started with our inter-dimensional/alternate universe pirating. If you don't want to hear it then get out."

"Ah, no worries, you had the beach to begin with so I won't give you the boot if you don't want to listen to my sea salt tale. Anyway, I can see that you look a little confused as you're sitting down there so allow me to introduce myself.

"I am Captain Quirk, and this is my skipper, Puck. We both travel the Seven Galloping Seas as pirates seeking adventure through countless dimensions via our unique form of transportation, the S.S. Aweship. Now that we've finally arrived at Equestria after our long odyssey, it seemed only right to share our story with you.

"Anyway, back to my story of how it all started. All I remember was waking up, with only a bit of my memory. My eyes blinked open, revealing to me a shining light in my face in a dark, dark room. I sat there for a moment or two getting my land bearings when somepony walked up to me and looked me in the eye."

^ ^ ^

"What's your name anyway?"

Dizzy, and a little disoriented, I exchanged glances with this strange, grey pony wearing a blue uniform and hat standing before me.

"Name?"

"Yes, your name."

"His name is Phyllis." I replied.

The pony before me blinked, looking confused.

"No, I mean your name."

"That is his name."

There was a pause.

"You're called Phyllis?"

"No, my name is Phyllis"

"So your name is Phyllis?"

"Yes."

"Alright, so Phyllis-"

"He isn't here."

Another pause.

"What?"

"Phyllis, he isn't here."

"...You are not here?"

"Of course I'm here," I responded, "But Phyllis isn't."

Another pause.

"What the hay are you talking about!?!" Cried the other pony, getting irritated.

I sighed. "I have a name, he lives at my shack back in the Horseshoe Gulf, and his name is Phyllis."

The other pony stared at me for about a minute or so, trying to set this right in her head.

"So you have a name - named Phyllis?"

"Yes."

"Alright." Said the other pony, taking a deep breath, "What do ponies call you then?"

"Oh, you want to know my name? My name is Quirk, Captain Quirk."

The other pony's head dropped down onto a small desk, which I only just noticed, with a thud. Something told me she was a little irritated, but I didn't think much of it.

Slowly raising her head, left eye twitching a little, the other pony re-established her gaze into my eyes.

"Do you know what you were doing that had gotten you here? Or do you own a 'you' at your shack too?"

"Oh no, I don't own any you's."

She sighed in relief.

"Although, my neighbor does though, if you were interested."

After a "grrr!" of frustration, she closed her eyes, attempting to collect herself. The moment felt tense, and awkward. To break the silence, I spoke up.

"Do you know why I'm here? My memory is a little foggy."

The other pony looked back at me, simply staring back at me without a word; she then looked to the side and muttered something sarcastic under her breath about her job which I didn't catch before she responded once more.

"I'm assuming that you, "Captain Quirk", do not know why you are here?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

The other pony sighed.

"Then if you have the... brains to pay attention... and actually know what I'm talking about, then listen up. You are here because of a stolen ship. Do you know anything about this, "Captain Quirk"?"

"Afraid not."

"Nothing?"

"Not a thing."

***

Puck sailed away to a cove just several nautical miles from where he had stolen the S.R. Aweship. The name of the ship was fitting - the ship donned bright orange sailes, bright golden masts, a bright emerald trim all throughout the ship, a bright blue hull, and a dark purple deck. Even more strange was its design; the mast leaned forward on the ship, seeming to place much of the ship's weight on the bow. Not only this, but the ship also included some grooves along the hull which appeared so significantly that it made the ship seem dangerous to sail in a storm. This was truly a strange ship that not anypony would sail in. Quirky, even.

At the cove, Puck could see a little town. Perfect, since he would probably get a good fortune for the S.R. Aweship. The ship, being in good condition, and being rumored to have magical abilities in travel, would be sure to bring in a nice profit. Of course, there was a police shack at this town, but they'd never guess that the ship he was sailing was stolen by he, the clever, mischievous Puck. Puck felt so proud of himself, and chuckled at the thought of that clumsy captain who lost this ship to him - he imagined that captain yelling out cusses and curses that would make any other sailor blush with shame. Puck's favorite quote of the week from that captain: "If you don't get back here, this instant, then I'll send you to the Pit-O'-Eternal-Punishment-No-Refunds-Absolutely-Guaranteed crater!" Puck couldn't help it - he burst out laughing just thinking about the name of that crater.

Setting anchor at the harbor, Puck took a rope and flew off the ship, landing on the docks with all four of his hooves. Tying the ship to the docks, Puck took one more glance at the S.R. Aweship. It was a beautiful thing, a magical gem of the seas.

Time to put on the show. Puck flew back up to the ship, clutched a wooden crate, and pushed it off of the ship and down on the docks. Flying down, Puck proceeded to push the crate to the front of the docks for his demonstration. His red cape flying in the air, and his black beret tilted inspirationally on his head, Puck looked out before him at a slowly forming crowd of ponies interested in his uniquely colored and designed ship.

"Citizens of..." Puck began. Looking around, Puck saw a sign reading 'Welcome to Carnival Cape.'

"Citizens of Carnival Cape," Puck spoke again, raising his voice more confidently, "I come here today as the only magical pegasus in all the world, here to sell to one of you this wonderful ship. It is a magical ship, a gem of the ocean, and I will sell it to any of you who can offer me a decent price."

The turnout of Puck's statement wasn't as good as he had hoped. Throughout the crowd were scoffs and criticisms were shot back at him. "Magic pegasus?" "How can a ship be magic?" "No pegasus can perform magic!" "That ship doesn't even look seaworthy!"

"Now, now, settle down," Puck confided, "All this I can prove to you - and more!"

As Puck said this, he raised his front hooves in the air, conjuring a fiery orb above his hooves. As he did this, the crowd before him quickly came to a hush. Slowly, and especially careful, Puck lowered the orb to be right in front of him, making the fiery orb hover between his two hooves. With a little grimace, Puck began to speak to the audience once more.

"As you can see, I can indeed perform magic!."

With that, Puck shot the orb into the air. After reaching a certain height, the orb exploded into dozens of smaller sparks. It was a firework.

Puck didn't realize it, but he had flown up a little when he had threw the fire orb into the air, spreading his hooves out theatrically in the process. With his confidence regained, Puck looked back down to his audience, smirking inwardly, as he slowly hovered back down to the crate, placing all four hooves on the crate. The expressions of confusion on each of the pony's faces confirmed to him that they had been fooled.

"Do I have any buyers?"

***

The grey mare wearing the blue uniform began pounding the floor with her front hooves in frustration.

"No! I am not talking about the weather! I am talking about what you remember about the day when the ship was stolen! Not the weather!"

I looked at the grey mare quizzically, "The day was nice, but the weather wasn't."

The grey mare hit her face with both her hooves, first her left, then her right, over and over, shouting profanities in the process. This just wasn't her day.

"Shut up! Just shut up!"

"But Miss, you are asking me the questio-"

"And how many times do I have to say it? My name is Silver Lining! Silver Lining!"

"That's nice. My name is Phyllis."

Silver Lining threw her hooves up into the air and shouted even more profanities than before. I suspected that something was wrong.

"Is something wrong?"

Silver Lining stopped reacting, but instead stood in front of me, eyes closed, and shaking with... anger?

"Something... Wrong? You think something... Might be wrong?"

"Yes, I think something might be wro-"

Before I knew it, I was kicked out of the shack which I was apparently inside of the entire time. Looking back, I could see it was a police shack, and I could also see Silver Lining uttering a cry of rage as she slammed the door behind me. Then I heard a muffled shout from inside.

"Go find your ship yourself! I'll have nothing to do with it!"

Then there was nothing.

"Now seems like the time for me to go find a ship to sail the Seven Galloping Seas with." I said to myself as I trotted down through the rest of town to the docks.

As I trotted through town, I looked all around,
Seeing all of the houses standing safe and sound,
Everything normal, everything quaint,
Everything peaceful,

"Cause it ca'int, ya wack!"

Broken off from my poetic interpretation of my surroundings, I happened to see a small crowd forming around a brown/orange pegasus with a lime green mane and tail. On his head he wore a beret, and as clothes he wore a red cape and a red vest underneath.

"Yeah, nothing material or hoof-made can be magical! It just ain't possible!"

"Settle down, my little ponies, settle down, everything that I'm saying is one-hundred percent true. You saw the ball of fire I conjured - you know I'm not lying!"

"Alright, so you're somehow a magical pegasus freak. That doesn't mean that that ship you have is magical - it doesn't even look seaworthy!"

"Yeah, prove that it has magic!"

"Prove it!"

Looking beyond the crowd I saw a brightly colored, uniquely shaped vessel. It appeared to be a ship, but the hull had grooves in it which made it look impossible for it to even be able to be floating at all. But for some reason, I recognized it. For some reason, I knew it was seaworthy. I just knew it.

Pushing through the crowd, I came up to this charlatan standing on the crate and asked, "How much do you want it for?"

The charlatan looked down at me briefly, but then jolted back in surprise as if I were a ghost. After a brief moment, he noticed that I didn't mean him any harm, and he replied.

"W-well sir... If you want to buy it, it will be 25,000 bits, at the least."

Reaching under my clothes, which I apparently had all along, I found a 25,000 bit amongst other 25,000 bits. I handed the charlatan the bit.

"I hope this will suffice."

The charlatan looked down at the bit, snickering to himself for some reason, then pointing to the ship, said "It's all yours then, captain!"

"Now wait just a minute," said a pony from the audience, "You're gonna go with 'em, and if that ship doesn't sail, and that ship doesn't fly, then we'll have you faster than you can say horseapples!"

"Yeah! See if it flies!" shouted another pony.

With a gulp, the charlatan hopped down besides me. "I-in that case, I'll just go with you then. Heh heh... heh."

I trotted up to the ship and began talking to the charlatan along the way, saying "Once this ship takes off, you are to refer to me as Quirk. Captain Quirk, magi pirate of the Seven Galloping Seas."

I heard one of the ponies utter a "What?" and a couple snickers after I said this, but it didn't matter to me much.

"...Very well, C-captain."

"Very good," I said, as I climbed aboard the ship and trotted towards the bow of the ship where the wheel was uniquely placed.

The charlatan stood beside me, seeming clammy and afraid, stroking his throat with his right hoof "I just hope you really know how to run this ship. With it's magic, of course," he muttered, almost unwittingly.

But I did know how to run this ship. It was all coming back to me as I felt the wheel under my hooves, the wind in my mane, and the hat with the feather which I just realized was sitting on my head.

"What is your name?" I asked the charlatan.

"...My name is Puck, captain."

"Well then, you are now my skipper." I said.

Puck hesitantly nodded, looking away towards the crowd with a pale face.

"Do you mind if I call you Skipper Puck?"

After a few moments, Puck replied, "Not... Not at all."

Clutching the wheel once more in my hooves, I spoke: "Alright then. S. R. Aweship, casting off!"

With that, the ship began to move backwards.

"The anchor!" exclaimed Puck all of a sudden, "I forgot to bring it back up!"

"No worries," I said, memories coming back to me, "It's all under control."

With that, the wheel clinging to the chain with the anchor began to rotate, slowly and steadily, bring the anchor up and out of the water. The ropes tying the ship to the docks began to become taught, even snapping in some places on account of the tension. The S. R. Aweship was about to take sail, as I remembered that I liked to say.

The crowd watching us looked awestruck, almost unbelieving. I didn't understand why until I realized - the ship was floating.

No, it wasn't floating on the water. It was floating in the air above the water, turning away from the docks, and being the cause of the ropes holding the ship down to snap.

Then a stallion from the crowd spoke up, "That ship! It's magic! Get it down!"

Turned out that stallion was the dock worker, a pauper in his town. Apparently for him, he finally saw the value of the ship we were sailing, and that it was sailing away - from him. Taking a chain with a pick attached to the end, the stallion threw up the chain and pick, causing the pick to land perfectly on the side of the ship. Taking hold of the chain, the dock worker began to climb the rope, holding a dagger in his mouth.

Some other less well-off ponies in the crowd began to take his lead and began to run for the chain in order to pull themselves up onto the deck.

Needless to say, I felt concerned. I didn't want these ponies to jump onto my ship, and to decide what to do with me and whoever this "Puck" was. It was then that I wished that I was a unicorn pony, so I could just lift the pick and chain with telekinesis.

Then I remembered - I am a unicorn pony.

With one fling, I sent the pick right off of the side of my ship, sending all of the greedy ponies falling down into the water.

"Puck!" I shouted, "Fly up to the crow's nest and hang on! Now we can really show off our talents!"

Puck, who had been dazzled by everything that had been going on, nodded and quickly flew up to the crows nest, bracing himself with a kind of belt with a loop in it, firmly securing him to the mast.

"Now let's give these townsponies a show," I muttered under my breath.

Steering the ship, I brought us to a steady midair turn. With that, I bucked the middle of the steering wheel with my forehoof, causing a ripple to appear around the S. R. Aweship, and the S. R. Aweship to lurch forward at a great speed into the horizon. Not long afterwards, the ship began to be encased with electrictricity, as a colorful, celestial cone formed at the bow.

"What is that thing?" shouted Puck nervously, over the nearly deafening sound of electricity.

"That is the inter-dimensional space barrier, skipper Puck!" Captain Quirk shouted in reply, "We're passing through!"

Puck felt a knot in his stomach at the idea of traveling inter-dimensionally. Whould he ever come home? Would he come out the other side the same way he was before?

It was too late for turning back now, because with a suddenly loud VWIP, the ship shot through the inter-dimensional space barrier, and could no longer be seen by the residents of Carnival Cape.