Dear Baby Ribbon:

I've heard that Ponyland is actually an island in the Atlantic Ocean!  Can you eventually get to Ponyland by boat?

Mashed Potatoes in Massachusetts

Dear Mr. Potato:

Well, the easiest way to get to Ponyland from where you humans are is to fly over the Rainbow if you are a pegasus or a flutter pony, or to hitch a ride on a flying pony if you are not.  Actually, that's the only way to get here, but it's not the only way to leave (a tidbit of info I learned the hard way).

New ponies who come to ponyland don't use the Rainbow. They have to sail across the Glass Sea, a magical body of water that surrounds Dream Valley, to get to Ponyland.  All Little Ponies know this fact from the time they were babies (after all, that's how we got to Ponyland in the first place), but when I read your letter, I got to wondering if one really could sail into Ponyland across the Glass Sea instead of going over the rainbow.

To research the topic, I sought out Barnacle, captain of the S.S. Moondreamer, the boat by which new ponies come to Ponyland.  "No, you can't just sail into Ponyland from a body of water on Earth." explained Barnacle. "The Glass Sea is not connected with any body of water known to humans."  When I asked Barnacle what the Glass Sea was connected to, he said, "Nothing, except Dream Valley."

Naturally, I was quite skeptical.  I didn't believe something can be "connected" to nothing  on a particular side, so I did some further research.  It turned out that no pony had ever sailed to the end of the Glass Sea.  Barnacle had come close on his trips to pick up immigrants, but no one had ever sailed to the very edge.

To finalize my research, I asked Barnacle if I could accompany him on his next journey across the Glass Sea to pick up a new pony.  He refused at first, but eventually my flawless salesmanship and expert persuasive ability prevailed.  Would you like to see an example of Baby Ribbon's Flawless Salesmanship and Expert Persuasive Ability?  Anyway, he conceded and I went.

On board the S.S. Moondreamer, I got a closer look at the Glass Sea than I had ever had. The water is special; it has a shimmery, silvery quality ordinary water does not have (hence the name--on still days it looks like a looking glass). 

Being a child, and posessing an inordinate amount of childlike curiosity, I just had to dip my hoof in the shiny water once or twice. Barnacle really yelled at me for that, but I felt compelled to keep doing it and told Barnacle that he was hindering my learning experience in these, my crucial formative years.  As we sailed further out, the water took on an ethereal quality, seeming less and less like water.  Finally, when Barnacle wasn't looking, I stuck my hoof way down in the water.  The good news was, the experience was incredible!  It was like being able to feel the inside of a moonbeam! 

The bad news was, I fell in.

I treaded the water while Barnacle quickly (and angrily) got the life preserver for me.  Unfortunately, when I completely submerged myself at one point, I began sinking extremely rapidly.  It didn't take me long to realize that I was actually not sinking -- I was falling.  I was hurtling like a skydiver with no parachute toward what I recognized as North America.  I had fallen through Ponyland!

Overcome by sheer terror, I screamed as I plummeted nearer and nearer to my death.  At last, when I was only about two seconds from impact, I remembered I was a unicorn!  I winked out and then back in safely on the ground. 

It took the other Little Ponies three weeks to find me and bring me home, back over the Rainbow.  While I was waiting to be rescued, I spent a very interesting three weeks in New Mexico, where I had landed.  Megan told me later that people had since dubbed the place "Area 51."  Pretty nifty, huh?

Although I am now considered to be a pioneer in pony exploration, I would not recommend exiting Ponyland using that method.  Someone may mistake you for the mother ship!