Bill Paxtrot, Eat Your Heart Out
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth from all of the light stabbing her vision. Closing her eyes did nothing to lessen the shimmer of Yaerfaerda. As the minutes lurched on, it felt like she was swimming right into a furnace. The greatest difficulty was in attempting to discern the entrance to the underground chambers from the glowing proximity of the otherworldly beacon.
“Rarity...?” Rainbow wheezed.
A figure drifted nearby. “Yes, darling?”
“You'll tell me when I'm getting close to the destination, right?”
“Is it really that hard for you to tell at this point?”
“Uh... yeah.”
“Do not worry, Rainbow Dash,” the unicorn said in a pleasant tone. “Keep on stroking. Tilt yourself upwards by... oh... about thirty degrees.”
Rainbow Dash did as told. Though she still had a hard time seeing what was in front of her, the pain of staring into Yaerfaerda diminished slightly. “Whew... like this?”
“Precisely.”
Rainbow spoke into her helmet once more: “Will I enter at this rate if I just keep this angle?”
“I would expect as much. We're very... very close to the entrance.”
“Is there a door or a valve or—”
“Nope! It's open directly to the ocean!”
“Wait. So it's flooded—?”
“I think not. I imagine that another one of Shoggoth's aquakinetic barriers is being employed.”
“You imagine or you know?”
“We have to get closer for me to get a better sense, Rainbow Dash.”
“Mrmmmfff...” Rainbow bit her lip. “It'd better be dry down there or else this is gonna be a very short trip.” She turned to look over her shoulder. “Hey! Twi!” Despite the futility of shouting to a spectre through a helmet and several tons of water, she nevertheless continued: “Do you sense a magical water shield thingy in the compartment up ahead or—?”
A lavender shape darted towards Rainbow. Twilight panted, her face pale. “Rainbow, we have a problem!”
“What kind of a problem?”
“It's Bard!” Twilight pointed at the middle figure swimming along the length of cord. “He's losing oxygen! Fast!”
“What's he down to?”
Twilight's voice cracked, “Three percent!”
“The buck?!?” Rainbow frowned. “The hell is he doing there in his helmet? Yodeling?”
“Rainbow, this is serious!” Twilight exclaimed. “I think there may be a malfunction in his oxygen supply! It's dropping fast!”
“Awwwwww crap on a crap bagel!” Rainbow spun around entirely with a flurry of bubbles and kicked her way back towards the Desperadoes. “Rarity, keep your horn trained on our destination!”
“What in Equestria do you even plan on doing?!” the mare exclaimed incredulously.
“I'll find out when I get there!” Rainbow Dash's wings twitched in desperation as her legs kicked her back towards the other two figures.
Bard and Wildcard jerked visibly at her sudden movement towards them.
She held a hoof up and slowed down, approaching Bard. “Twilight, can you tell how he's doing?”
The mare floated beside her and the stallion. “Rainbow, I can sense magic, mana, and leylines... b-but I can't tell you what his vital signs are!”
Rainbow brought a hoof to her neck—but found her suit blocking the pendant. “Dang it. I need to see Bard's face...”
“How about Wildcard?” Rarity suggested from behind. “His tanks glow just like yours and Bard's.”
“Good thinking.” Rainbow motioned at the confused griffon. He swam closer, and Rainbow Dash gently pushed him into position so that his tanks hovered near Bard's helmet. “Stay right there!” Rainbow tried shouting, but it was no use. “Darn it, if only Camellia could—like—build us a threeway brain line—” She took one look at Bard's face and blanched.
The blue light from Wildcard's tanks revealed a sweating, haggard muzzle. Bard's face was covered with sweat, and he grimaced from labored breathing. Fog and moisture collected along the edges of his visor as his eyes rolled back.
“Friggin' A,” Rainbow hissed through her teeth. “You weren't kidding, Twilight.”
“He's at two percent now. Dropping.” Twilight fidgeted in the water. “But... b-but my readings may not be correct! For all we know, it's worse!”
“Did he have busted airtanks or what?”
“I... I-I'm not sure...”
“Wait!” Rarity exclaimed. “Are they interchangeable?!”
Twilight glanced back while Wildcard leaned in worriedly. “Huh?”
“The tanks!” Rarity pointed. “Surely they're not glued to the suits!”
Rainbow peered her head, turning Bard around somewhat as he examined his dimming tanks. “...that's a good point. Twilight?”
“They're attached through hinged mana couplers.”
“Okaaaaaaaaay...” Rainbow squinted. “Meaning...?”
“They should be able to attach and detach like Rarity said!” Twilight gulped. “But you and Wildcard don't exactly have a lot of air left either.”
“Guess we're gonna have to suffer.” Rainbow glanced back at her dim blue tanks. “Which one of mine has the most air left?”
“Just give me a second...” Twilight floated closer, brow furrowed.
“Hurry, darling!” Rarity squeaked, looking worriedly at Bard's increasingly limp figure. “You must hurry!”
“I'm concentrating!” Twilight growled slightly. At last, she took a deep breath and pointed. “The lower right one, Rainbow Dash. You can relinquish that and still have a few minutes to spare.”
“Right.” Rainbow grabbed the tank in question and—snap!—removed it. Bubbles fountained around her. She felt the pressure in her suit shifting rapidly, and her ears popped. “Duahhhh...”
“Quickly! Quickly, Rainbow! Attach it to Bard—”
“Right! Grnngh!” Rainbow yanked a random tank off Bard's suit and slapped hers against him.
“Upside down! You've got it upsid—”
“Dang it!” Rainbow gnashed her teeth, frantically spun the thing, and attached it correctly. There was a blue flash of light, and Bard's figure jolted slightly.
“Oh Goddess!” Rarity choked on a sob. “He's drowning!”
“Quite the opposite, I think, Rarity.” Twilight stammered. “I just took a look. Seems like he's taking his first big breath in minutes!”
“Will it be enough to help him swim the rest of the way?!”
“I... I don't know.” Twilight gulped, floating between them. “We need more. We need—”
There was another pulse of blue light. A gloved talon held a tank out before Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow looked at Wildcard. He nodded his helmet.
She nodded back, took the tank, removed another from Bard's flank, and pressed it to his suit.
Bard's figure stopped struggling. Rainbow floated so that their helmets were visor-to-visor. She saw his eyes fluttering, and a deep warmth returning to his muzzle. The stallion gave Rainbow a dazed look, then nodded his head ever so slightly.
“Okay...” Rainbow exhaled in relief. “Okay okay okay...” It was then that she realized just how thin the air was in her suit. Her heart palpitated, and she looked Twilight's way. “How much time have we got now?”
“I... I can't tell yet,” Twilight said. “Before you gave up one of your tanks, you had ten minutes of oxygen. Wildcard had fifteen. But... now?”
“'Kay.” Rainbow clenched her jaw and looked behind her. “We gotta move for the entrance. Rarity?”
“Just follow me, darling.” Rarity said, gliding backwards and motioning daintily with her hooves. “And—for Celestia's sakes—breathe shallow!”
“Got it.” Rainbow held her breath, glanced at Wildcard, then motioned with a gloved hoof.
The griffon grabbed one side of Bard while Rainbow grabbed the other. Bard kicked his hooves in gentle, persistent strokes, and together all three figures pressed on through the darkness, approaching a fixed point in the abysmal wall.
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Wow...
First in yet again?
What has happened to the laws of physics???
Hmm...I really wonder what happened to Bard's suit. Malfunction? Indirect sabotage? An inability to stop talking? (
)
I suppose we'll find out pretty soon.
Dying in the darkness. Alone but together. 1, 3, or 5.
6354277
I'm interested to know as well, good thing they could spare the extra tanks (though barely)
Hmm. Kinda hoping his original tanks really were faulty. Otherwise he'll be exhausting those reliable replacement tanks just as quickly.
I'm a magically adept ghost horse, not a doctor!
This isn't the catch, it was far too simple. Where is the catch?
The mana power is for keeping the tanks intact with variable air pressure? I thought they would have been gill flow otherwise, needing that much power.
At least Revan and crew are coming with replacement air tanks.
6354434 The catch is when RD has to fight Revan, he somehow interacts with Yaerfaerda, and starts having the ghost of Shell follow him around.
6354277 6354323 6354399 I'll bet that Bard's got some phobia and he's been hyper-ventilating since the start.
6354738
Ooohh...I think that's a good theory. Gives options for giving Bard even more character depth.
At least the entrance theoretically has air. Wonder if there's a way to replenish those tanks? Would make sense if there was.
Oh, hey.
Eight thousand comments.
WE'RE SO CLOSE TO PONKA NOW THAT I CAN TASTE IT
MAYBE DASH CAN TOO
Faulty tanks/weren't full when they grabbed the suits/hyperventilation.
There could also be a micro tear in the suit somewhere that was venting air.
There are too many options for why something went wrong. I'd be asking Rarity to do a scan of the superstructure of the tanks and give the suit a once over.
If she senses any faults in the tanks then it means they were leaking, if not he maybe just slapped a pair of faulty tanks on, or they just weren't full.
If she finds a fault of the suit then that just raises the question of why it wasn't taken for repairs.
If there are no faults with either tank or suit, then that just means Bard has some kind of phobia to do with their situation.
Hydrophobia is ruled out, since he wasn't freaking out when they made it to Shoggoth.
Nyctophobia is a good guess. it would be very dark at that depth.
Claustrophobia is possible too, I've heard fanon before that all pegasi are claustrophobic, though Rainbow doesn't seem to suffer from it, but as far as we know she's the exception to the rule here.
Also, Dash has now saved both Desperadoes from some form of asphyxiation at this point.
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
6354738
That reminds of the one claustrophobia/thalassophobia (relating to pegasi specifically) comment back when they arrived at Upper Shoggoth.
I don't recall mentioning it at the time. But I figured that if such a fear did present itself later on in the arc, I expected Bard would be the one to exhibit symptoms. Even if he wasn't consciously aware of those fears before donning the gear and diving. What with this being a whole new experience for him, I think?
Gear, or fear? Shouldn't be long until we find out.
All these water chapters are spooking me the buck out! Make it stop Ic!
6354738
That is a really good possibility.
Am I the only one finding myself holding my breath during sequences like this? It's a little distressing.
I've also been wondering what exactly is mana-powered about the tanks. My best guess is that it's not conventional tank so much as it's a magical oxygen candle. Perhaps it even uses a(n easily-)reversible reaction for recharge.
6354650
BWAHAHAHAHA
New theory: Shell is screwing with Rainbow Dash and Co. from beyond the grave. You didn't really think he was actually gone did you? Death is only the beginning!
I thought this was a U-571 reference at first, given the underwater setting, until this line:
I should have seen that one coming.
6354247
oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki/apis.ign.com/mario-kart-for-wii-u/d/d5/Mario_Kart_7_Powerup_Spiny_Shell.jpg
6354247 Didn't someone tell you not to make a big deal out of a "first comment" scenario?
This is the third time I've seen you do as such.
Please stop.
It's not a race.
6354761 EHRMEHGEHRD! A wild Zaid appeared.
Looks like this was a one-way trip, as most things are.
He simply couldn't stop singing for ten minutes, could he?
Bard, like in Mario 64, takes double damage without his hat.
So... Is Rainbow going to have to save one (or both?) of the Desperadoes every time they go for a swim.
Next time on East Horse:
Wildcard takes a bath and nearly gets sucked down the drain, while Bard trips and nearly drowns in a puddle. Will Rainbow save them in time? Tune in and find out!
6355721 Then I shall cease to make note of it.
6353278 Of course I won't give up.
No surrender!
Dire times ahead. If the entrance doesn't lead to air, they're all in trouble...
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
Whew. For a moment there I thought Wildcard was going to sacriice himself to save Bard. Glad I was wrong.
Jeez, how are they gonna make the return trip at this rate? The Syndicate must have fresh tanks down there if one-way uses up most of the oxygen. If not, then hopefully they can hold their breath for quite some time.
Yikes! That was way too close. I believe the phrase goes . . .
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,
Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming . . .
6359926 What do we do we Swim swim
Time to grow a pair...of gills.
I'm assuming they some way to refill the tanks and in the royal tombs.
If not... I'm surprised normal ponies can make it down there and back with enough air, but dash has less then half before getting half way down. And she an athlete.
6682555
I think there are tunnels that lead there, they're just heavily guarded and off limits to everyone but workers, hence the need for the suits. Otherwise Revan and Jeryn wouldn't be trying to walk there. Presumably they can all walk out, they'll just have some 'splainin to do when they approach the guards from the other side...
Edit: no wait, my bad, the workers need suits too.
Meh, they'll figure something out.
that's what roarke said
How Props was written really makes me excited for Pinkie's return, ifmthey'remalike.
I guess my hopes for Rainbow to see the guy Revan threw out and save him with an extra suit are gone.
Freaking yikes! At least these two seem to be on a similar wavelength. Bard almost suffocated!