Note: Because this fanfic was originally posted on a forum thread, the layout of this fanfic may seem rather odd. Please do not let this get in the way of the enjoyment of this fanfic.

Best regards,
President Lenin/Alp Arslan

April 15th, 1805

Onboard the HMS Victory, Mediterranean Sea

Thomas Atkinson patrolled the decks of the HMS Victory. Although he was generally asleep around these hours, tonight he was feeling rather restless, and decided a midnight stroll would do him good. He looked up over the railings at the Mediterranean, and concluded that there were no French ships that were to be attacked.

Suddenly, Thomas saw a bright flash in the sky near the horizon, which had vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He looked at its former location in shock and confusion. Was that an island he saw in the distance?

-----

Ponyville, Equestria

Twilight Sparkle adjusted the mirror of her telescope before consulting one of her books on astronomy. Although previous afternoon's bake sale was probably one of the most hectic events she had witnessed since she arrived in Ponyville, she at least had the opportunity to enjoy a night of stargazing and astronomical observation, especially when such a major event like this was unfolding.

"Spike!", she called out, "The alignment is about to begin!"

Spike drowsily walked out onto the balcony. "Twilight, why do we have to be out here so late at night?"

"Spike, this is the night of the alignment of Macha and Rhiannon, which only happens once every 500 years! This is probably the only time we'll be seeing this event together! Do you really want to miss such a once-in-a-lifetime-"

However, before Twilight could finish her sentence, a bright flash nearly blinded them both, and enveloped the entire town. Several seconds after the light dimmed and they could see normally again, the young unicorn looked upwards, and to her shock and bewilderment saw a completely alien night sky.

-----

The Mediterranean Sea

Ghjuvan and Paulu Mariani were particularly unamused about this odd turn of events. Although the two Corsican fishermen were long accustomed to the perils of the coast and shallow water, they just could not acknowledge that their boat had been beached on an island that had appeared barely three minutes ago, even as they tried rummaged through what emergency provisions they had kept on their boat.

After drawing straws, they agreed that Ghjuvan was to stay at the boat to keep watch over their supplies, while Paulu was to go and find any supplies.

Paulu estimated that he had walked for about half an hour when he came upon a railroad that seemingly appeared from nowhere (what a railroad was doing outside of a mind was anyone's guess), along with a sign pointing northwards.

"Appleoosa: 15 Miles"

-----

“ALL HANDS ON DECK!”

The command of Thomas Hardy echoed throughout the Victory. He couldn’t believe Atkinson when he explained that an island appeared in the middle of the ocean, but once he forcibly dragged him on the deck and showed him the dark shape in the distance, the captain at once began to become concerned about any possible reefs.

“Atkinson, what is the sounding?”

“About 37 fathoms, sir, but the midshipman seemed rather tired, so it could be anything in that general depth.”

Hardy cursed him under his breath, and ordered some seamen to turn the ship northwards.

He looked up above at the sails, where some more sailors were scrambling away at the yards working on the rigging.

Some hours later, the Victory had anchored near a small cove near a large patch of forest. On the orders of Admiral Nelson, a troop of Marines were lowered onto the barge, led by Lord Nelson himself, and made landfall after about 5-10 minutes.

---
Twilight was back in her bed, although she had some trouble sleeping after the shock of the flash and sky changing. She kept her window open that night, in the hopes that the gentle breeze would help her sleep. It was slightly windy that night, and if she listened closely, she could almost hear distant voices singing in the breeze:

Lon...eerol...mane...orja...on..for..old...ate...e e..rye...

Of course, considering that the breeze was coming from the Everfree Forest, she doubted that anypony was actually singing that night. But there was another thing strange about the wind: was that the smell of saltwater she noticed?

---

Paulu felt exhausted. He had no idea how long a "mile" was, but he estimated that he had been walking for at least several leagues since coming to that sign. At several points on his walk he had almost considered falling asleep, but the prospect of a warm bed and a hot meal in the inn of this "Appleoosa", as well as the fear of wild animals or bandits in this strange land drove him onwards, no matter how exhausted he was. He was puzzled by the landscape- the area seemed to be desert, but even in the moonlight, the area seemed to be brighter, more stylised, than what had remembered the desert to be like (of course, he had only seen 1 desert in his life, during a particularly exciting voyage to the Barbary Coast, so it was possible that deserts around the world could look different than the one in Africa).

After about half an hour, Paulu finally came to what he assumed to be Appleoosa. The town had an incredibly bizarre architecture- at least compared to his seaside village in Corsica. The clock tower in the town hall seemed too tall, the paint of the houses seemed to bright, and the inhabitants neglected to build a harbor despite the shore being less than 50 yards away. Nonetheless, the Corsican followed the railroad up to what he had hoped to be the town's inn, but he was far too tired to climb the steps, and simply collapsed onto the street.

His last thought before losing consciousness entirely was where the owner of that light-coloured horse on the far side of the road was.