Fizzlepop and Grubber accompanied Providence on the train returning her to Vanhoover. While they perused all of Clark Arcanter's notes and searched for a ship for the journey, Starlight Glimmer pulled aside Trixie Lulamoon, self-proclaimed master illusionist. The details of their journey instilled little enthusiasm in the sky blue unicorn; but if her trade of tricks could aid her dear friend Starlight, then she would go.
Soon after, Starlight and Trixie bid farewell to their friends, the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony; and they boarded the next train to Vanhoover.
A sea-worthy vessel with a competent and willing crew proved elusive, and Starlight and Trixie's arrival did little to ease the search. Ponies dared to sail only so far in the North Luna Sea, dreading encounters with hypothetical pirates or hungry sea monsters or the very real and harsh sudden changes in the sea. For sure, the kelp-harvesters would not help, not even after Providence begged them and went so far as to bribe them with all her savings. No, they would not risk a second encounter with the pegasi in black armor, whose glowing gazes rattled the knees of the heartiest crewponies.
Fortune smiled upon Grubber, though, one day while he procured sweets at small, hole-in-the-wall bakery. The owner happened to be the wife of a captain, renowned throughout Equestria's sailing circles for navigating through the fiercest maelstroms and extracting boats from the laziest doldrums. Captain Prospero Temp was quite humble outside his trade, though; and always, he desired to make right what had gone terribly wrong for ponies.
The bakery owner would speak to him upon his return to Vanhoover and have him meet with Mrs. Arcanter; for the couple had followed her plight whenever newspapers had paid attention. The kelp-harvesters had been irresponsible in letting those pegasi take him, said the bakery owner, and Captain Temp would not hesitate to make right what was wrong.
Grubber's discovery deserved the utmost gratitude, and an elated Providence prepared hearty breakfasts, much to his glee, until the day of his departure.
Finally, the day arrived for them to depart. Indeed, Captain Temp had agreed to help, and he had assembled his crew with as much haste as he could.
As Providence uttered good-bye to Starlight and her friends, she said, "I just pray to the Two Sisters you get home safely. And I hope Clark doesn't give you too much trouble when you find him. Oh! He's a stubborn pony, even when he's feeling sicker than a kennel of dogs."
"Don't worry, Ms. Arcanter," said Fizzlepop. "I've dealt with some stubborn ponies and creatures in my day."
"Oh, yeah," agreed Grubber, "she's what a lot of the old crew called 'persuasive.' Like, a creature is going with her whether they want to or not."
Providence smiled and gazed at the friends. "Well, even if he doesn't appreciate what you're doing, I certainly do. Even when he should have thought it through better, I should have never yelled at him not to go."
"Anger's nasty like that," said Starlight. "There's always a better way, but sometimes... well! Sometimes, we just don't see that right in the moment," and she glanced at Fizzlepop, who knew well of what she spoke.
Bidding Providence their final fare-well, the unicorns and Grubber strolled onto the gangway. The crew cast off, and the ship entered the shimmering, sapphire waters of the North Luna Sea.
The journey into the unknown West began free from abnormalities. The waters chopped from time to time, and the wind did not blow favorably always; and poor Grubber had the utmost difficulty keeping his paws on his food, which escaped with this sudden tilt or that tilt. But not even tufts of clouds sullied their view of azure skies during the day and starry skies at night.
Captain Temp remarked, "This rate, mah dears, lookin' atchyer map, we oughtta see their shores in about five days, six if we hit unferseen waters."
Starlight smiled at the good pace they made. If Good Luck smiled upon them, they would reach the shores of mysterious Kadath without beleaguer-ment.
Good Luck did not smile, though; for luck, as the ponies of Equestria knew it, did not exist in the dismal country of Kadath. The ponies of Equestria had yet to learn that the mist-veiled country was ruled by unseen and harsh entities, worshiped by suspicious and dangerous ponies.
Upon the fourth day of their journey, the boat sailed into think fog. Not one ray of sunlight touched the deck or the sails. Having arisen before her friends, Fizzlepop carefully navigated through the mists. She joined the captain and his chief mate at the helm. She wondered if they had heard or seen any sign of trouble.
"No sign o' dark, brooding pegasi yet," said Captain Temp.
Starlight arose next, and she, too, joined the captain and chief mate.
"Are we in the doldrums?" she asked.
"Could be," said the pony at the helm. "Cen barely hear the waves slappin' th' ship."
" 's strange fog we entered, Miss Glimmer," said Captain Temp. "We're movin', aw right, but ya can't feel a breeze, can ya? Sails barely rustlin'. The ship don't even feel like she's in water. I mean, listen... Ya hear that? Ya don't. Ship's not makin' any sound—can't tell me we ain't entered enchanted waters. Naw, I ain't seen them pegasi yet, miss, but I betcha th'ain't far."
"How ready is your crew for an ambush?" asked Fizzlepop.
"They're a disciplined group, Miss Berrytwist. Come Tartarus or high waters, we won't let anythin' bad happen to you 'r ya friends."
Fizzlepop sighed. She admired his confidence, but she doubted that even an experienced pony, such as he, could fight victoriously against what she assumed—unknowingly but rightfully so—an elite patrol.
Then trouble thundered upon the deck, like boulders falling from the sky. All the crew were roused and hurried up top, fearing that the ship had been damaged.
"Halt! All of you!"
The deck screeched as every hoof obeyed the stranger's command. Captain Temp, his chief mate, Starlight, and Fizzlepop watched from the helm as six shadows marched into view. They were pegasi, about as tall as Fizzlepop, perhaps a bit taller, and they wore armor that was blacker than charcoal. Each pony wore a helmet with a blade that jutted from their foreheads, more fierce than a unicorn's horn.
Fizzlepop stood beside Starlight and whispered, "I wonder if these are the same ponies who took Arcanter."
One of the pegasi stepped forth, a swarthy blackguard whose face showed no detail but his two, fiery eyes, like smoldering coals. He bellowed at the crew to queue up immediately, and he demanded one of them summon the captain and the chief mate.
" 'ey!" cried the captain. "I'm he!"
Starlight shrank as those fiery eyes gazed up at the them. The captain and his chief mate walked carefully down to the deck. Starlight and Fizzlepop followed closely at their heels.
The swarthy pegasi snarled, "You have breached ar waters."
"All due respect," said Captain Temp, "but we's followin' orders."
"I dohn't care," snarled the swarthy pegasus. "Yer the second ship o' fools what dun it, and we dohn' care for it."
"Who's 'we'?" asked Fizzlepop.
"We are we," he growled. "We patrol these skies and these wahters, an' you still cen't git it in yer heads: your kind of ponies are not wanted. We ain't doin' trade witcha, and we ain't interested in alliances with ponies from the east."
"With all due respect, again," said Starlight, "but the captain isn't lying. You see, my friend here and I have been charged with a mission to find a pony, who went missing when a ship from Equestria wandered into your waters."
"If he's lost at sea, then he's lost at sea. There idn't any point in anypony lookin' for him."
Starlight and Fizzlepop bristled at the swarthy pegasus' shameless cruelty; but then was not the time to chastise the foe.
"Who else is on this vessel?" demanded the swarthy pegasus.
"We got two more what hadn't woke up," said Captain Temp. "Royal ambassadors of Princess Twilight Sparkle."
The pegasus narrowed his fiery gaze and snorted in doubt. Starlight realized that, indeed, Trixie and Grubber might have still been asleep in their cabin, and she asked if could fetch them. The pegasus demanded that she make the trip quick, and she hurried to rouse her friends.
Grubber had awaken just a few moments before the pegasi had landed, but rather than rush onto the deck at the commotion, he had begun to stuff his face with sugary breads. Trixie had risen when she had heard the thunderous landings, and she bemoaned to Starlight that the crew had been so respectful of her beauty sleep thus far.
"It's not the crew," said Starlight. "We've got company. We need you on the deck. Now." Then she rifled through her documents and drew the edict that Twilight had prepared for any foreign authority, whom would likely demand to see it.
As she held the edict, the pegasus scrutinized the words and the princess' seal and signature. He hummed and then gazed at Starlight.
"Why would an alicorn bother wid a missing pony?" he asked. "Why not let the local authorities 'andle it?"
Trixie harrumphed. Her mood had sunk low due these strangers' interruption, and she declared, "We wouldn't be out here unless the princess ordered us to come out here. You think we want to be harassed a bunch of thuggish, wanna-be officers?"
Starlight and Fizzlepop's eyes widened, and their bodies tensed. The fire in the stallion's eyes had been stoked by her gall, and he snorted and reared and stomped his forefeet right in front of Trixie. That caused her to stand at attention, and her surliness turned into fear as he leaned closely and bellowed, "We. Are. Officers. We patrol the borders—land, sea, and air. You talk daown to us, and you talk daown to the authorities who appointed us. And I tell you no lie when I say, I bet they got powers a thousand times more terrible than your little Equestrian princess."
Trixie cowed before him, her eyes as wide as two moons and her knees knocking against one another. Not since her encounter with the dreaded ursa minor had she felt such fear for her life (though in the presence of her friends and the crew, nothing would have befallen her).
Nevertheless, her friends and the crew had watched his threatening posture, unable to move or speak, as though they had been struck by some demon of catalepsy. Only Fizzlepop, accustomed to similar threats from her former, cruel master, the Storm King, shook the evil spell. With a sudden stroke of good luck and her quick wits, she devised a story that might fool the pegasi.
"Captain," said Fizzlepop, her gaze firmly planted upon the swarthy pegasus, "if that is your title, sir..."
As he looked upon her, one of his nostrils flared, his frown unshaken.
"Sir, I understand the need to follow protocol strictly," said Fizzlepop. "I honestly do, as a former soldier. We do ask for your help to catch the criminal Clark Arcanter."
"Nothin' in the edict says anythin' about catchin' a criminal," said the swarthy pegasus.
"Because we're going into foreign territory, sir," continued Fizzlepop. "He's a criminal from our nation, and, if you can imagine, it's embarrassing for us to have him galloping about, like some debauch ambassador of Equestria.
"Please, if you would just help us, sir. Mr. Arcanter has been accused of stealing a large sum of money from his family and stealing drafts from his colleagues at a major publishing firm in Vanhoover. The police there have hunted for him for moons, and they finally received a tip, that he'd hopped on a boat with a bunch of kelp-harvesters, hoping to sail to some ponies or creatures that don't have an extradition agreement with Equestria."
"But why you? Why's a princess involved?"
"Through a share acquaintance, sir. Princess Twilight is friends with a mayor, and this mayor is the friend of the accused's wife, who's also one of the plaintiffs on the case. Since the Vanhoover authorities have exhausted their resources, Ms. Arcanter turned to the royal court, and here we are.
"Once we have Mr. Arcanter and everything that he's stolen, we'll be on our way. In the meantime, there's some degenerate possibly lurking around your land, committing any number of crimes, including illegal entry into your territory."
Fizzlepop's tale had been laden with just enough truth, even her friends forgot the untarnished reality of their mission. And from the softening expression on the swarthy pegasus' face, the magenta unicorn had affected him.
"Humph! Good soldier like you, runnin' aroun' with upstarts like these," he commented. " 's derned shame. Ya oughtta go back to runnin' wid a more disciplined pack of ponies."
"With all due respect, sir," said Fizzlepop, "I'm quite happy with my permanent honorable discharge. Let's just say, I've done enough."
The pegasus' evil smirk revealed pointed teeth that belonged in the mouth of a wolf, not a pony. Then he turned to his comrades and bellowed in a strange language with hard, growling r's and harsh, throaty h's and k's. Another pegasus stepped forth from their queue and joined his side, while the rest saluted him and stomped on the deck three times.
"These officers," began the swarthy pegasus, " 'll make sure you dock in the port town of Dunwich. 't's abaout a day, day and a half away. 'n the meantime, my second an' I'll check in with the constable there; and you'll be wantin' to check in at the station, too, and check in with the bishop there."
"The... bishop?" Starlight puzzled.
"Bishop Hecate Marsh," he said. "She 'eads the town and the town council. And since you are obviously most regal and majestic representatives"—and he emphasized the words with all mustered sarcasm—"you'll be needin' to talk to her 'n order to proceed, if you need to proceed beyond Dunwich's borders."
Then he and his second-in-command turned. Thrusting their massive wings from their sides, they ascended many, many hooves into the air, vanishing into the fog.
While the remaining pegasi coordinated with Captain Temp and his crew, Starlight, Trixie, Fizzlepop, and Grubber slipped quietly back into their cabin. While Starlight and Fizzlepop sighed in relief, Trixie chattered and babbled.
"Shh! Do you want them to hear?" whispered Starlight.
"That... That... thing..." gasped Trixie. "That was no pony. That was a... a... some beast straight out of Tartarus."
"Oh! Don't exaggerate," said Starlight. "He was a jerk, but he wasn't—"
Trixie leaned closely, their horns almost touching. "Did he get this close to you, Starlight? Did he threaten to turn you over to a bunch of... of... well! I don't even know what he said! But that feeling... that energy or aura or whatever you call it..."
"Their magic?" said Starlight.
"It. Was. Horrible. I could feel it, girls. It was pulsing, like a... a... a pimple. Like a big, veiny, pus-filled pimple, but even worse, like a cyst or something. It was just gross and wrong and..." As she gazed at her friends, their expressions told her that they thought she was being theatrical; that she was being Trixie, exaggerating that which was admittedly unsettling. She huffed and shook her head.
"His eyes... His eyes were just terrible. Terrible. His breath was worse than un-fresh. There was something unnatural about it all. I... I don't know... I... I just can't describe it. It was so strange how fast I felt so changed."
Starlight and Fizzlepop ceased to stare dubiously at her and joined her side, rubbing her withers. That pegasus and his comrades were truly abhorrent, and Trixie—poor Trixie! She had suffered the full force of their repellent energy. Thanks to all that was good, Fizzlepop had gone hoof-to-hoof with that blackguard, and now, their journey continued, nevertheless to a dreadful land teeming with more horrors.
Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction recognizes that Hasbro owns the rights to My Little Pony. The author makes no intellectual or monetary claim to My Little Pony or characters within the franchise. The author would also like to recognize the heavy influence of the works of HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith upon this fanfiction.