Just Gotta Keep Sailin The Quartz

[allendsmeat]

Who: Straw Hat Pirates, possible Bloody Roses Pirates
Where: Sailing log from 7/7- 7/10, Isla de Quarzo Rosa 7/10-7/12
What: The first leg of the race
Warnings: The usual
Status: Semi-open to the Bloody Roses.



Pls date your threads.

Bloody Roses, how close we're sailing is up to you guys though probably not enough to just casually swing over without some ability. However, feel free to come encounter us at any time on the island!

Straw Hats, enjoy the veggie rain! Also remember our NPC pirates are Mama's Bone Boys who will attack us intermittently throughout the journey and send spies on board. Let's save the major boss battles til the finale, though, shall we? But otherwise, have fun!

Comments

[letteropener]

Oh! [One moment of pure surprise from Celestia, before she smiles radiantly.] Well, welcome aboard! I'm very pleased to meet you.

[Celestia rolls off the sail lightly, which looks terrifying for just a moment before she spreads her wings and pumps them once. That's all it takes for her to land on the deck. Half-mantling her wings, she bows in greetings to Anna quite properly.]

[alovingheart]

[Surprised, but smiling brightly, Anna gives a quick curtsy in return for the bow, as it feels like the right thing to do.]

Thank you. And I-- Well, I've never met someone like you before. This place really is more amazing than I could have dreamed. Oh, I don't know your name yet!

[letteropener]

I am Princess Celestia. I come from Equestria, a land of ponies as your land is a land of humans. Elsa is my friend -- [At least, Celestia thinks so] -- so I am all the more glad to see her family show up here.

[She misses her own sister so much right now, but that never, ever shows on her face. Celestia is a model of royal restraint and dispassion.]

[alovingheart]

It seems like most of Elsa's friends are pretty happy to see me here, I just.. I'm not sure if Elsa is... [There's obvious worry in her voice at that, but she quickly keeps going like she hadn't even mentioned it.] But, wow, a land of ponies! That's... That's amazing. Do they all have beautiful wings and a horn like you?

[letteropener]

Sisterly relations can be very complex, no matter how deep the love runs between them. [And if anyone is the voice of experience on the matter, it is Celestia.]

[Used to comments on her physical appearance, she doesn't ruffle so much as a feather as she responds.] The great majority of them do not. Most ponies are unicorns, who have a horn; pegasi, who have wings; or earth ponies, who have neither. We alicorns are very rare, because the mantle of Princess must be earned. Although it was once an inherited title amongst unicorns, as I understand it is for you humans, that was many hundreds of years ago.

[alovingheart]

[Anna seems quite interested in all she has to say. And she wishes she could visit Celestia's world some time, though if it was a land entirely full of ponies, she's not so sure what their reaction would be if she did.]

Earned? Really? Does that mean you had to do something in order to get the title? Or in order to be an alicorn? And does that mean that alicorns are originally born as a different type of pony? [She stops, and laughs a bit awkwardly.] Sorry, I'm probably asking too many questions.

[letteropener]

You aren't the first, nor will you be the last... and I enjoy answering questions. [Celestia smiles quite fondly, her calm completely unruffled. Centuries of practice will allow for that.]

For an example, my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle, was a unicorn for most of her life. But after coming to understand the magic of friendship very deeply, more deeply than any pony in all the known history of Equestria, she earned her place among the ranks of the Princesses.

[alovingheart]

Oh... So then she became an alicorn? That's probably a pretty good way to go about royalty, to be honest. I mean, people who understand friendship are probably-- er, or... ponies that understand friendship... Well, they're probably pretty good people. Ponies. So you wouldn't have to worry about them being selfish or greedy or, you know, out to harm other people. Ponies. [Wow, she practically just confused herself for a second there. She turns her gaze up, mentally going through everything she said in her head again, as if to make sure it all made sense. Eh, close enough.] Yeah.

[letteropener]

You can just say 'people'. I have learned that humans, ponies, and everypony else here are all basically the same inside, once you get past the outer shape. [Even if the outer shape does occasionally complicate matters.]

[alovingheart]

[Looking relieved that she hadn't messed that up too much, she smiles at Celestia.] Good.

[Something suddenly occurs to her, at the mention of shapes. Celestia has wings, so...] Wait, couldn't you just fly? I mean, from island to island, rather than having to be on a ship?

[letteropener]

It is a very big ocean, and I am only one pony. As much as I sometimes might want to try, becoming lost would be a terrible experience that I might not survive. [She says this very serenely, as always, so as to take the edge of the image of crashing into the sea, exhausted and unable to fly on, miles upon miles from any hope of salvation...]

[alovingheart]

[Well, that all made a lot of sense. Her wings were a part of her body after all, so obviously she would have to expend energy in order to fly. And there were things on a ship to help navigate by, whereas up in the sky... That probably wasn't possible. Or at least it wouldn't be easy, Anna was pretty sure.

She nods in understanding, the smile returning to her face.] Well, I'm glad that you're here on this ship. I look forward to being your crew mate and helping everyone in whatever way I can!

[letteropener]

And I'm sure I speak for everypony when I say we're very glad to welcome you aboard in return. [She bows again, quite formally and with eternal grace.]

[alovingheart]

[She's so formal! Well, probably she should expect that from a princess. Or, at least, from a princess that wasn't Anna. But she feels like she needs to be formal back, so she'll bob another curtsy, feeling a little awkward about it.] Thank you!

[letteropener]

[Celestia can read awkwardness quite well, so as she rises, she leans in slightly and drops her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.] And if you don't want to treat me like a Princess, that would be just fine. It's a pleasant change, to be honest.

[alovingheart]

[Anna laughs at that, relieved.] I guess I'm not really very formal for being a princess myself, huh? I mean, I do try! You know, when it's necessary... I just forget sometimes.

[letteropener]

I never had the luxury of forgetting, so all the more reason not to stand on ceremony. We are friends and crew here, not royalty.

[alovingheart]

And also, I think, technically pirates. [Sort of interesting thinking of herself as a pirate princess. Not really a bad interesting though, she's already met some pretty nice pirates since she's been here.]

[letteropener]

Yes indeed, but there are pirates out there who are not friends and crew, so better to focus on those important disctinctions.

[alovingheart]

That's true enough. Someone told me there was a woman on another crew who set an island on fire... [She visibly cringes at that. She can't imagine what it must have been like for the people who were on that island.]

[letteropener]

[Oh dear. Celestia fidgets with her hoof on the deck.] That... has happened more than once, I'm afraid.

[alovingheart]

Really? That's terrible! Is there no way to stop them? [Because if there's any way she could keep that from happening again, she'd be more than willing to do whatever it took.]

[letteropener]

We certainly try when we can, but it often is just a matter of being too far away when they are acting. [She sighs softly, regretting her own failure in the last time -- she HAD been close enough, but didn't know...]

[alovingheart]

[Anna nods sadly. She understands, but it still seems so unfair and unnecessarily cruel. If there's one thing she'll never understand, it's those who hurt others for no apparent reason other than their own gain or simple enjoyment.] I can't imagine why anyone would want to be on a crew that does things like that...

[letteropener]

In the case you have heard of, the crew itself is composed of decent people, ones who we had been traveling with just before that incident. They have been helpful and friendly.

Sometimes, the actions of somepony else take you completely by surprise.

[No, not speaking from bitter experience there, why would you think that?]