I looked over the edge of the ship. The sea horses were still following us. They were watching us, even as I watched them. One of them called out to me, but they were talking Korean, and all I knew was 'hello', so I said that, which made them really happy.

One of them waved a hoof out at me. "Hello!" She said it in Japanese, surprising me. "Can I come closer?"

I looked around cautiously. None of the soldiers were close by, but I didn't want them being startled. "I'm going to talk with one of the sea horses in the back." I trotted along the side of the ship in view of the sea horse until I came to the back.

Pinkie suddenly sprang up. "Hey there! You're gonna talk to them, huh?"

I smiled gently at her. "I hope so. They're following us. They must want something. Besides, I am a princess. Even if we don't talk easily, I'm responsible for them too, right?"

Pinkie suddenly hugged me close. "I believe in you. You have this totally under control!" She bounced off, leaving me to my meeting.

I waved down at the sea horses from the back deck. "Come on up."

The bright orange sea horse jumped up like a dolphin, coming down just in beside me. "Hello! You're really important? How?"

I sat on my haunches and nodded at her. "First, hello. My name is Aiko, and I've found out I'm a princess of our kind, the ponies. I don't mean that in a 'I'm now your boss' way, but that I'm responsible, and I want to do right by you all. It's a responsibility, not a privilege."

She pointed a hoof up at my partially-spread wings. "Is that why you can fly?"

"Sort of." I turned to show them off to her. "They're more like a badge. But, really, I'm not here to try to boss any of you around."

She tilted her head one way and the other. "Do you remember like the man we sprayed?"

"Remember what?" It came to me just after I asked the question. "You mean what I was like before being a pony?" She nodded quickly. The idea of not remembering seems far more strange and terrifying to me. "Well, so far as we can tell, if someone has friends nearby to coach and support them through the process, they can hold onto more of who they are, where as people who are alone or surrounded by ponies that don't remember don't help, and can forget it all."

She hopped towards me, balancing precariously on her muscular tail. "Can we remember, if we want to?"

I struggled for an idea. "I find myself hoping so. I might remember, but so many others don't, while others struggle to even talk."

She waved a hoof at the water. "Some of our friends don't talk, but they can sing, and dance, and play. They're still friends."

"Yes, of course." I considered it. "I am learning that friendship is one of the strongest things we have left." I reached for the sea horse. "Even new friends."

She leaned forward and nuzzled my hoof before flopping over onto her belly with a little squeak.

I wrapped my magic around her quickly and lifted her upright. She looked surprised. "How can you do that? What is this?"

I pointed up at my horn. "Unicorns can apparently do that."

"Wow..." She tilted her head lightly. "Why are you on this boat? Where are you going?"

"Are you okay?" called a voice from over the side. The sea horse hopped back to the edge and leaned over.

"I'm alright! We're talking." She transitioned to Korean and began talking much more rapidly to her friends down below before she spun back at me, wobbling. "Where are you going?"

I pointed in the direction the boat was going. "There's a whole nation, if you remember it? China?"

She frowned with obvious thought before it came to her. "Oh! Yes. I remember it. What about it?"

How to explain? Well, let's try being straightforward. "They're attacking us. If they do it, they'll kill any pony they come across to make things secure."

She flinched back. "That's... awful. Are they going to hunt us too?"

My mouth went dry and my heart thumped. If they were willing to run across Japan... "They might. Korea could be another stepping stone. They may even move for you first. You're in the way. We want to learn more about them, and stop them."

She suddenly scowled, and jumped off the boat with a little flip. I heard her splash below, and she didn't come back up. I quietly hoped I hadn't upset her too badly, but there wasn't much I could do for it. At least she'd warn her friends, for what good that'd do.

Pinkie called down from where she was sitting on top of the cabin, "how'd it go?"

I'm not sure how she even got up there. I waved at her. "She heard what we were doing and went to talk to her friends."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Oh, alright. Want me to tell you if they come looking for you?"

I let out a sigh. "That would be useful, yes. Thank you, Pinkie. I'm going to get a nap." I was feeling tired and retreated into the boat. My room wasn't far from the entrance, and I crashed onto the mattress they had provided for me. My thoughts wandered back to the... herd... as Pinkie had called it. Were we really so much animals that we could have herds? I supposed we were, seeing as it was my idea in the first place. I had no one else to blame.

I began to think of him, once her. Once human, now a pony, and my love... I faded to sleep with the thoughts of his welcome presence.

I appeared suddenly in a familiar garden. Luna was seated there, but so were other ponies, though they looked different. Each was majestic in their own right. One of them stood out, being covered in bright colorful lines and wearing a seemingly perpetual scowl. "You don't get to tell me what to do. South America will be mine long before any of you can even get close to it, and I'll make it into a better place." She stood tall. "We'll put the humans to the only true use they have, becoming ponies."

Luna softly coughed into a hoof. "Please, let's put that aside a moment. Another has arrived, from... Japan, was it?"

I nodded quickly, then realized. "Are you all from different parts of the world?"

One smiled gently at me. "We are pleased to meet you. I'm Hedwig." He looked like a deer rather than a pony. "I represent Europe. Japan has a lovely representative, with the grace I imagine when I think of Asia."

Another, a dinosaur of all things, nodded. "I am Adaeze." She was a female. A brontosaurus, I think? "I hail from Africa. I am not the only princess there, but the spirits have chosen me to represent them."

The brightly colored one flickered several long tongues out. "Neon, South America, as I just finished saying. Maybe you have some sense in you. The humans aren't good for anything anymore. If they were all ponies, we could rebuild society, better than before!"

Luna clopped the ground with a silver horse shoe. "Please. There must be a peaceful resolution to your difficulties."

"There isn't!" Neon bristled. "Where we aren't converting the humans, they're converting us, with bullets. We aren't killing them, just making them better. They should be thanking us!"

I didn't like the sound of any of that. "Right now, I'm working with the humans of my nation, who are still Japanese, as I am. We're working to defend ourselves from China's aggression. They treat us as Japanese, and why shouldn't they? We are. I am proud to be one, four legged or not. Winged or not."

Neon hissed at me, her bottom jaw splitting to reveal her mouth opened three ways in a disconcerting way. "Good for you! My continent is broken into many smaller nations, and as ponies, we can get along, or we can be hunted down and shot. I'm not accepting the latter. Goodbye." She turned away and vanished into clouds that dispersed where she had stood.

Hedwig sighed softly. "I understand her frustration, as should you, to a degree. Though you are allied with the people of your nation, another nation closeby is moving to war and destruction. Members of Europe are slow to unify as well. Some nations embrace their pony populations, others fear it, and others attack it. It's quite a pickle, to put it lightly."

Luna put a hoof over her face. "Yes, well, I do appreciate that the rest of you are attempting to approach this peacefully. I cannot explain how deeply I regret the disharmony we have brought to your world. Please, don't let it grow more than it already has. You were chosen by fate itself to be the custodians of your world. It is by your hooves that you can guide your people to harmony, or chaos."

I sat up a little. "I'll do my best, I promise. I want to help my people, all of the people. We met some Koreans on our way, and they're good people, if lost in being ponies. They rather like being ponies, really..." I tapped my chin. "They didn't like hearing about the Chinese."

Adaeze shook her large head. "I don't like hearing of the Chinese, if they are truly mobilizing for war. You must stop them. Win or lose, the loss of life is unacceptable. If you can put a halt to it, you must."

Luna looked towards me. "I admit to knowing little of the geography and politics of your world, but this is a serious undertaking you are embarked on. Do you require assistance from us?"

Was that an option? "What can you do? We're on a boat trying to sail in to China to have a look around."

Luna reached out to me and set a hoof on my forehead. "Allow us to press my magic through you. We will shroud you from thine enemy's eyes but once. Simply call out my name, and the spell will be unleashed. We cannot say how long this will persist, so move with speed."

Adaeze glanced at Luna. "Can I do this as well?"

Luna tilted her head. "You are all still learning the art that has been blessed upon you." She took a slow breath. "For tonight, if you will submit to my teaching, I would show you how to channel your power, to more greatly cast your spells and arcane grip." She directed her horn at a large smooth rock and it lifted from the ground in a nimbus of her magic. "This will become easy for you, with practice."

I felt a thrill at seeing the casual display of power. Could I really match that great alicorn's might? If I could even do half of what she did, that would be something amazing! I leaned forward, ready to learn from her everything she had to offer, at least in one night's time.

Author's Notes:

1: Luna still wants to chat. 7 votes
2: They land in a hot zone, and things get interesting fast. 2 votes
3: Friendly agents meet them at the shore, and give them a briefing from the inside. 3.5 votes
4: The sailors determine things have gotten hot, and are afraid to come to shore. Guess Aiko and Pinkie are flying the last leg. 3 votes
5: Aiko wants to use the sea horses in a pre-emptive sea strike! 3.5 votes

19 votes total, a healthy turnout.

Sorry for the delay! I'm back from the con, so maybe I should get to writing, hmm?

Hey, where's the vote?! There is none. I am a cad, and will continue. This plot ain't over! Note we haven't reached 4k yet even close. So I owe you more typing.