JAWS in Equestria

by SoulofLegend

Shark, Anyone?

"Do we really have to be here right now?" Fluttershy whispered to her friends as loudly as she could. "It's so... crowded."

Unfortunately, her efforts to make herself heard were swallowed up by the chorus of anxious ponies vying for the attention of Pompous Plump, the illustriously rotund Mayor of Maretha's Vineyard. The overwhelmed politician pulled a handkerchief out from a pocket to dab his brow as he faced the legion of townsponies who'd swarmed his office. Despite having all of the windows open, the air in the room was stuffy and hot.

"Please, everypony settle down!" Pompous shouted over the crowd from behind an elaborate desk, frantically waving his flabby hooves in the air.

Twilight and her friends had somehow ended up in the middle of the chattering crowd that now filled up the mayor's office, despite attempts to muscle forward. Twilight was beginning to think that Spike had been crushed under a sea of hooves, but then again she questioned as to whether she was actually that lucky.

"Make room, you fiends!" Rarity screeched in vain as the crowd pressed in around her. "Touch my mane and I'll smite you all, I swear to Celestia!"

Twilight huffed in frustration. She was a split second away from casting a spell to teleport everypony in the room into the void that was Luna's mane, when the shrill chirp of a whistle being blown cut through everything.

The crowd all simultaneously plugged their ears and turned in unison to face the sound coming from the corner of the room.

Sitting on a stool beside an old chalkboard was a rather crusty, brown earth pony wearing stained fisherman's clothes. A ragged, grey cap was pulled down over his eyes, leaving only his over-grown sideburns exposed. He pushed the cap up and squinted at the crowd, his fiery gaze slowly making its way from pony to pony. As the room fell silent, he spit out the whistle clamped firmly between his chapped lips and, confident he'd gained their attention, spoke.

"Y'all know me, know how I earn a livin'." His voice was gruff and filled with enough salt and vinegar to make a chef jealous.

From out of the center of the crowd, a pink hoof shot into the air and a cheery voice shouted out, "Ooh, ooh! I don't! I don't!"

The old seafarer blinked in confusion, but decided to ignore the mare and continued.

"Like I was sayin', most of ya know me and how I make a livin'. I been listenin' to y'all spittin' yer bits on watcha' think happened on that beach today. 'Bout what coulda' mangled and munched that poor wee lad, may he rest in peace and all that sorta' thing."

He paused to spit onto a potted plant beside his seat.

"But, lemme tell ya, I'm the only pony in this room what knows the truth: what decided it'd be worth risin' outta' the murky abyss to make a meal outta' y'all is the stuff of nightmares and legends. It's a shark, I tell ya all."

Fluttershy gasped and brought a shaking hoof to her mouth. She leaned over and hissed in Twilight's ear, "It can't be! Sharks are only an old mare's tale!"

"I know y'all are thinkin' sharks are an old mare's tale. But mark my words, it's Celestia's own truth." The salty seapony slapped his hoof across a crude sketch of... something on the chalkboard next to him.

"And, uh," the Mayor Plump asked, scrunching his brows, "what is that supposed to be?"

"Ya tellin' me ye never heard of sharks before, Mayor?"

"I meant that... thing on the chalkboard."

The fisherpony raised an eyebrow as he rapidly looked back and forth between Pompous and his drawing. "That? That's a shark!"

"Forgive me," the Mayor said, on the verge of laughter, "but I've heard descriptions of sharks. And they look nothing like that, Salty Squint."

"Ya accusin' me of not knowing what the buggers I chase fer a livin' look like?" the sailor angrily barked.

"Well, you've obviously mixed up sharks and blimps with overbite, that's all I know," Pompous retorted with a wheezy laughed.

The one called Salty Squint grit his teeth and cursed under his breath as he swiped an eraser off of the chalkboard and hurriedly did away with his crude sketch.

"Forget the drawing, ya ignorant sods! I'm here to tell ya that I'm the only pony round these parts with the know-how to do battle with this overgrown chum guzzler! I'll lend ya my services fer a paltry ten thousand bits. And before ya go sayin' how I must be touched by the sun to be pullin' that number outta' my flank, may I remind ya of how many good tourist bits y'all lose if Happy Teeth out there has his way."

Salty Squint huffed and rose from his stool, turning once more to face the baffled crowd. "Remember," he bellowed, "ten thousand bits, fer me, by myself. Fer that ya get the head, the tail, and... uh, everything in between!"

With that last bit of stunning eloquence, he beat a hasty retreat and left the crowd to reflect on his generous offer. Though he was quickly gone, his words were left to haunt the ponies, in addition to his briny stench.

Awkward silence hung in the room for a minute or so before everypony burst back into hurling questions at the despondent mayor.

- - - - - - - -

"Well, that was a waste of time," Twilight grumbled as she slammed the door to Town Hall behind her. Trying to convince the mayor to let her investigate the occurrence at the beach had been less than successful. Apparently, the news of her coronation hadn't spread this far yet.

And if he thought she believed that load, he could go kiss a parasprite.

"Oh, I don't know," Fluttershy quietly remarked, "I think we should try to find that fisherpony and see if he really does know about sharks. I always thought they were just stories, but... maybe the stories have some truth to them."

Before Twilight could respond, she found herself bumping face-first into a stallion. She rubbed her forehead and noticed that it was the police chief from the beach.

"Oh, forgive me, Princess!" he exclaimed as he recognized her.

"It's alright," Twilight groaned, "Celestia forbid anything should go right today!"

"Allow me to introduce myself," the stallion said, offering his hoof in greeting, "Chief of Police Brave Badge, at your service."

Twilight begrudgingly shook his hoof and he continued, "Actually, I was just on my way to see you. I'm grateful for your help handling that crowd earlier and I know you want to find out exactly what happened out there today. Frankly, so do I. That's why I decided to give the Oceanographic Institute of Manehattan a call. They said they'd be sending one of their top marine biologists down here to have a look at the victim's... remains. He should be here sometime tomorrow morning, if you'd care to join me in meeting him."

The chief pushed his glasses back up his muzzle and awaited Twilight's response. She put a hoof to her chin and scrunched her face in thought.

"You know, I think I'll take you up on that offer, Chief Badge!" she happily replied, a determined gleam in her eye.

"Excellent, meet me at the police station at ten tomorrow morning. Farewell, Princess Sparkle."

Appearing relieved, the chief took his leave.

Twilight and her friends made their way back to the hotel. It was a blessing to finally get a chance to sit down after a hectic first day. Some vacation.

"Look on the bright side," Rainbow Dash cheerfully said as she flopped onto one of the beds, "at least something's being done about it. Just wait and see, this'll all get cleared up tomorrow and we can get back to enjoying this vacation before you can say 'awesome sau-'"

"AWESOME SAUCE!" Pinkie screamed, popping up next to Rainbow and scaring her half to death.

Twilight rolled her eyes and she snuggled the soft covers of one of the beds, an exasperated groan escaping from her.

"C'mon, y'all! Let's go grab a bite to eat, I think Twilight needs some time relax," Applejack said as she herded the rest of the group out of the room.

"Thanks, AJ," Twilight gratefully sighed.

"No problem, sugarcube. You just get some rest."

The door softly closed behind the party and Twilight's taxed mind started to finally wind down as their voices faded down the hallway.

Just as she was about to drift off, the door quickly opened and slammed shut again as an irritated Spike stomped into the room.

"Thanks for leaving me behind at Town Hall, you jerk."

- - - - - - - -

Trotting down the street at a brisk pace, Twilight smiled. It was a beautiful summer morning in the little seaside town. The sun was burning brightly above, casting its warm glow upon her as she made her way past quaint Victorian homes guarded by white picket fences. Seagulls filled the silence with their calls as they circled above the town, waiting for some poor tourist to leave their food unattended. The smell of the ocean hung in a light breeze as it always did, a pleasant and unending fact of life in Maretha's Vineyard. Twilight breathed in, allowing the crisp air to fill her lungs.

It was all so delightfully calm and serene, it was hard to believe that something as horrifying as the attack yesterday could take place here. Twilight's brow crinkled as she went over what had happened. One minute everything had been fine, the next... terror. That poor foal had just been out to enjoy the ocean and instead, something else enjoyed him for dinner.

"It just doesn't make sense," Twilight thought aloud, "I've never heard of anything like this happening before. Although..."

Her mind went back to what that fisherpony had said in the mayor's office yesterday. Sharks...

Twilight laughed and dismissively waved her hoof. Sharks, of all things! Those were just stories told to frighten young fillies and foals, nothing more! Tales told by old sailors who'd probably had too much cider while at sea, that's all...

"Yep," Twilight confidently said, "sharks are just a lot of hooey!"

It wasn't long before she reached the medical examiner's office, a small brick building right beside the police station. As she reached the front door, the reality of what she was about to see again made her a little sick. Examining the... remains of the foal.

She tried to clear her head and quietly pushed the door open. In the middle of the bland main room, three stallions stood talking in a circle. One was Chief Badge and the other - an older, tight-lipped earth pony in a suit - Twilight assumed to be the medical examiner. The last was a younger unicorn with a bright orange coat, his curly mane and tail a light brown color. He wore a white sweater and blue jeans, with a large pair of glasses sitting on his muzzle.

All three turned as Twilight entered the room, the chief walking over to greet her.

"Princess Twilight, welcome. Thank you for coming." Gesturing to the older gentleman, he said, "This is the medical examiner, Mr. Quack."

The old stallion grunted a half-hearted greeting while adjusting his tie.

"Oookay... and this," Badge continued, "is City Slicker, our expert from the Oceanographic Institute."

Mr. Quack quietly scoffed, "Ha! Expert, my wrinkled rump."

Twilight walked over to Slicker and held out her hoof. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to make your acquaintance, City Slicker."

"Please," he chuckled as they shook hooves, "just call me Slicker."

Mr. Quack rolled his eyes and grumbled, "The remains are back this way, if anyone still gives a feather."

He led the others to the next room, a completely white and sterile examination chamber. Cabinets full of various medications and medical instruments lined the walls and large, glaring lights illuminated the room. The floor was covered with spotless, white tiling that was so clean and slick that it made the ponies' hoofsteps squeak like dying bunnies. In the middle of the room stood an examination table draped with a white cloth. Beneath the cloth, a square object rested, likely the container where what was left of the unfortunate foal now resided.

Mr. Quack walked up to the table and flung the cloth away, turning to face Slicker and Twilight. "Please," he sarcastically grumbled while gesturing to the container, "have at it!"

Slicker stepped up first, with Twilight timidly following. She wasn't exactly itching to see what was in that metal container again, but her curiosity to find the truth about what had done this compelled her to stay.

Slicker slipped on a pair of latex gloves and slowly peered into the container. "Oh," he said, his voice tinged with a degree of surprise, "uh, alright then... this is, er... something."

Slicker winced a little as he reached in and pulled the head out. The little pinto foal was a few shades paler then he had previously been, but other than that he was in much the same condition: gruesomely separated from his body and - to top it off - dead.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat and promised herself she wasn't going to be sick.

"Well," Slicker said after examining the head for several minutes, "you've got a shark on your hooves."

Twilight snickered and punched Slicker in the shoulder. "Ha, good one!"

"No, I'm quite serious."

"Hee hee, sure."

"This is the work of a shark, I'd stake my reputation on it."

"You're actually kind of cute when you're joking." A snort unwillingly escaped Twilight while she laughed.

"Uh... no, really. I'm serious."

Still laughing, Twilight stated, "But, sharks don't exist! Everypony knows that!"

Slicker rubbed the back of his neck and nervously looked away. "Yeah, well... funny story."

"Say what?" Twilight asked in mid-laugh.

"We at the Oceanographic Institute might have neglected to mention that we proved that sharks do, in fact, exist... so, there's that."

"What?" Badge interjected, walking up to the examination table. "You mean you knew that these things are real? How long have you known this?"

"Uh... try about fifty years, give or take a decade."

Twilight scooped her jaw off of the floor. "WHAT?!"

Slicker shrugged. "Well, sharks are so exceedingly rare and they live so far out at sea, we assumed it would never be a problem."

"WHAT?!"

"Although, if I read the reports right, several of the researchers in charge of the one sharks they did manage to capture alive might have died horribly. The reports mentioned pools of blood, missing limbs..."

"Enough!" Badge shouted as he made a beeline for the door.

Twilight was right on his heels, with Slicker following not far behind.

Bursting out of the building, they tore through the quiet streets and headed for the beach in a desperate race.

"Chief!" Twilight called, gasping for breath, "What is it?"

"We have to tell the mayor about this and have him close the beaches immediately! That thing is still out there and ponies are out swimming today!"

- - - - - - - -

The ocean gently rocked back and forth to its calm rhythm, the wind creating lazy waves that aimlessly went nowhere. The sun struck the glistening surface of the blue depths, as unaware of the secrets contained within as the swimming vacationers a few miles away.

Slowly, a dark fin slashed through the salty foam, the sole herald of the ravenous titan that swam beneath. It made its way towards the beach in the distance, determinedly cutting through the blue surf like a knife. An entourage of seagulls followed above in anticipation of the carnage that was to come, circling and eagerly shrieking.

After a few minutes, the large fin quietly slipped back beneath the surface of the sea and disappeared into the abyss.

Author's Note:

Well, there you go! Sorry we couldn't get to the fountains of blood this chapter, but they will come soon... very soon. Hope you enjoyed it!

Comments

[JakeAndDollars]

;) ~Dollars.

[Scarheart]

Duh-nuh...duh-nuh...

[SoulofLegend]

4680380
4680475

[JakeAndDollars]

Also, Salty Squint.... you goob. ~Dollars.

[JakeAndDollars]

4680475. Nock it off, you'll give him away and he wont get his pony num nums. Do you not want lil Bruce to get his pony num nums? For shame.
~Dollars.

[SoulofLegend]

4681172

It's true, though.

[swisspony]

well another very very intersting chapter

[SoulofLegend]

4684279

Thank you!