//------------------------------// // Deep Trouble // Story: Marabian Knights // by silvershad0 //------------------------------//         The sun is shining.  Waves crash into a beautiful, sandy beach.  A young, white filly takes off at a full gallop toward the water’s edge before being stopped by her mother.  Her coat was also a ghostly white, but her mane was a single shade of scarlet that flowed off to one side of her head, almost touching the ground.  “Now, Vinyl dear, wait just a moment.  You can go swimming, but stay where we can see you and don’t go out very far.  The current will gobble you up if you get in over your head.”         “Yeah, sure, whatever Mom!  Can I go now?”  The filly was bouncing in place, awaiting the final word that would grant her the freedom to enter the ocean for the very first time.  “Pleeeeeeeeease!”  Her eyes grew twice as large and she put on her absolute best pouty face.  Her mother nodded and she bolted for the water, never looking back.         “I don’t know where that filly gets all of her energy, dear.”  The mare turned to her husband as she spread out a towel for herself onto the sand.  He was a large, slightly overweight, brown-coated stallion with a short, light blue mane.  What seemed to be a permanent frown was plastered on his face as he grunted at his wife.  She chose to ignore his bad mood, opting instead to take in the many other beach-goers.  So many happy families spending time together, just enjoying the glorious day.         Vinyl crashed against the waves, fighting with all of her might to proceed further into the water.  The salty water stung at her eyes and left a terrible taste in her mouth, but she would not be denied her first encounter with the great blue.  Finally she made it far enough to start swimming and began furiously kicking all four legs to keep her head above the surface.  She kept at it for several minutes until she got the hang of it by kicking her legs in a pattern.  “Look Mom!  I’m doing it!  I’m swimming!” she yelled as she turned back toward the beach.  Only, she could barely make out the beach from this distance and now her parents were nowhere in sight.         “Say, dear, do you perhaps want to join Vinyl out there?” Vinyl's mother asked as she turned and pointed to the spot her daughter had been swimming just moments ago.         “Why don’t you go swim with her since you adore her so much?” he snorted and flipped a newspaper over his head to shield his eyes.  He awaited her angry backlash that would turn into another argument and inevitably lead to them going home early with him happy, her pissed, and Vinyl heartbroken.  Total victory, except there was no angry backlash.  Not even a scolding.  He turned to look at her only to see panic plastered over her entire face.         “I don’t see her.  I can’t find Vinyl!”  She dashed toward the water, her head moving back and forth as quick as she could manage, but the filly was nowhere in sight.  Then a scream somewhere off to her right sent chills down her spine.  She turned to see a mare pointing far off into the water and a lifeguard rushing toward the spot she had pointed to.  She followed ahead of the lifeguard to see a small white and blue speck thrashing about way past where anypony would willingly swim.  It was her heart that sank first, followed by her knees, as she slipped into unconsciousness.         Vinyl was kicking her legs just as hard as she could manage now to keep from being swept further from land, but her small frame was no match for the current’s strength.  Her stamina was fading quickly and she knew she couldn’t keep this up for much longer.  She saw a figure making its way toward her, but it would never arrive in time.  She stopped fighting against being pulled out and focused on keeping afloat, but the further out she got, the more the invisible force started to pull down on her as well.  It all became too much and she took a large breath before succumbing to the will of the waves.           She held the small amount of air she had gathered for as long as she possibly could, but she was so tired now.  So tired and ready for sleep, but his time she knew she would not awaken.  Eyes slowly closing, she released her breath and ceased her struggling kicks.  Everything grew colder by the second as she sank further into the darkness, her vision clouded by the stinging salt water and her fading life.         ‘It’s so peaceful down here.  I can’t believe this is it,’ Vinyl thought to herself in what she truly believed to be her final moments.  She wanted to cry.  She wanted to scream.  She wanted to go home and give her mommy the biggest hug she could manage and tell her how much she loved her.  The last thing she saw before she faded was something long and red reaching for her.         Vinyl burst forward in her bed, panting heavily and clasping her beating chest.  She glanced back and forth all around the modest-looking room, desperately trying to figure out where she was and remember how she had gotten there.  A sliver of light peeked through the single window of the foreign room, highlighting enough small details for her memory to recall the previous day’s events.           She sighed in great relief that not only was she safe and sound at the inn the group had stayed in the previous day, but also that the horrible nightmare had come to an end.  It was her very least favorite memory of a time she would rather forget if at all possible, but with such strong feelings attached to it, she didn’t expect it to ever go away.         “Good morning, sleepyhead.”  Octavia walked in the room holding a small tray filled with what appeared to be some kind of food, though it didn’t look like anything Vinyl had ever laid eyes on.           “Morning?” Vinyl asked, remembering that the original plan had been to sleep until nightfall so that they could travel while it was cool.         “Yes,” Octavia looked a bit embarrassed, but continued her explanation.  “It seems we were all quite a bit more tired than we realized.”  She rubbed her hoof over the back of her head and started fidgeting with her mane.  “So we really need to hurry and get moving if we’re going to make up the lost time.”  She hated to rush the group after the trying ordeal they had been through the previous day, but she had to stay focused on their goal if she ever wanted to make it back home.         “Yeah, I guess we should get going then,” Vinyl replied, trying not to let her nerves show.  She tried to dispel the remnants of the nightmare on her way to breakfast, knowing the others would quickly recognize her demeanor.         “Something wrong, dear?” Octavia asked, turning to look directly at her. She now wore a concerned look as she put a hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder.         ‘How the hay does she do that?’  Vinyl thought to herself as she tried to find some way to cover up how she was really feeling.  As much as she loved Octavia and trusted her with anything, she really didn’t want to talk about this right now... or ever if she could help it.         “Vinyl?” Octavia was now getting really worried.  Vinyl rarely went this long without talking unless she was thinking about something seriously and that usually meant big trouble for everypony involved. “Oh, it’s nothing really.  Just really tired from yesterday, is all.”  She was starting to sweat pretty badly under the pressure of Tavi’s stern gaze, but put on the best reassuring grin she could manage. The grey mare simply sighed and moved onward into the dining area.  The other three were already sitting at a small, oval table eating bowls of what looked like thick soup.  They each exchanged good mornings as the two joined them with bowls of their own. “So, what is this we’re about to eat?”  Octavia asked as she stirred the contents of her bowl around a bit.  Though the surface was a muddy, brown-like color, her stirring of the spoon revealed that underneath was a layer of a thin, red liquid. “It’s some variation of curry from what I’ve been able to gather.  Slightly spicy, but not overpowering.  A great breakfast meal to wake up the senses,”  Redheart said as she took another bite. “Wow, ish really good,” Vinyl said with her mouth full of the delicious distraction.  “We should see if we can get some of this stuff to go!”  She tossed the spoon to the side casually and picked the entire bowl up in her magic aura. “Not a bad idea.  We’ll need to restock on pretty much everything we have if we’re going to make it to Port Sarim.”  Redheart pushed her bowl forward and laid out a map on the table.  “Compliments of the innkeeper,” she answered before anypony could ask.  She pointed about halfway between where they were and the port town.  “The desert lets up right around here, replaced by rocky hills from a northern mountain.  And if we go just a little bit off the road in that direction, there are some caves we can rest in for the night.” Bon Bon became nauseous at the mention of caves, sticking her tongue out and making sure it was well understood that she was not happy with the idea. Lyra grabbed her hoof with her hand and gave her a reassuring smile before looking to the rest of the group.  “I don’t know if caves are the best idea after what we’ve been through.  Just saying.” Redheart nodded her head and breathed a heavy sigh.  “Believe me, I’m not thrilled about the idea either, and I came up with it, but if we try sleeping outside we’re likely to freeze to death.”  She paused at the mention of the last word she had uttered, gauging the reactions from the others.  Each of them seemed to become a little somber with the realization that death was now an actual possibility and they would be facing it every day head-on. “Let’s not concern ourselves with that at the moment,” Octavia said, trying to pierce the gloomy air.  “We should just focus on what must be done and why we’re doing it.  I’m going to go start gathering some water from the well and I’d advise each of you to start gathering the rest of what we need.  We can’t stay here moping around forever or this ‘Misira’ is going to beat us to the amulet.”  The others just stared at her blankly for a moment before her words of inspiration set in. “She’s right!”  Lyra yelled.  “This is no time to get down in the dumps.  We can do this, and you wanna know why?”  She paused, watching the others as they looked to her for the answer.  “Because we’re the Marabian Knights!”  She raised her hands high in the air and motioned for the others to join her.  The blank stares intensified, if such a thing was possible, until finally Vinyl snapped. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” the sorceress shouted as she mimicked the lyrist.  For the first time that day she was finally wearing her trademark grin, which was quickly shared by Octavia, and then everypony else.   Lyra raised her hand for what she called a ‘high five’, but Vinyl instead put her hoof into the center of the group of mares.  Lyra followed suit and put her hand on top of the outstretched hoof.  Octavia, Redheart, and Bon Bon slowly added their hooves in with a little embarrassment, but happy for the change in mood.  Vinyl counted down from three and they all shouted their adopted name as loud as they could manage, much to the annoyance of the poor old innkeeper. Far away, on the deck of a ship, a cloaked figure peered into a crystal ball at the group as they finished their shouting.  “Are those the ones?” she asked, her voice sharp but delicate at the same time.  A larger, cloaked figure stepped forward and gazed at what she had been looking at, a single, curved horn sticking through his hood.  He nodded and stepped back into his place among three other shadowy figures. “You know what to do,” she said in an even tone, never taking her eyes off of the image in front of her.  The minotaur gave another silent nod and started to leave before being stopped by her voice once more, though this time it was much colder.  “Do not fail me again, Sonim Ironhoof.”