Nick gripped the rudder, aiming the Swan Song towards the lagoon in the center of the Nealend Atoll. Despite the important task at hoof, he couldn't stop throwing worried look after worried look over his shoulder.
“Dammit, larva!” Sinrar spat, struggling to stay upright atop the battered trimaran. “Keep your eyes forward!”
“I can't help it!” Nick stammered, glancing back once more at the tumultuous seas. “I have to know if Rainbow is alright!”
“She's doing this specifically so that we may make it to safety!” Sinrar exclaimed. “If your stupidity lets us capsize, then her sacrifice will be for nothing!”
“Sacrifice?!?!” Nick whimpered.
Sinrar slapped the mast several times with his cane. “Pay attention! Just concentrate on getting us inside the atoll! Whatever Rainbow's doing, I am certain she can handle it—”
The sea practically exploded behind them. Just then, a hulking leviathan breached the surface, its glistening jaws lunging at a blurring prismatic figure. Sinrar and Nick watched as the beast leapt through the air, its body arched and trailing with over two hundred feet of thick scales and fifteen foot spines. It took a full twenty seconds for the full length of the serpent to clear the waves and plunge back in, leaving foamy water and broken reefs in its wake.
“... … ...” Sinrar twitched. “Then again. Her legacy was nice while it lasted.”
“That's it!” Nick struggled with the rudder. “We're going back to lend her a hoof!”
Sinrar slapped his cane against the instrument. “Like Hell we are! No sense in all three of us dying!”
“But we owe her!”
“For what?”
“The pirates n'stuff!”
“Larva, I'm only going to say this one time—!” Just then, several objects blurred past them from the direction of the Atoll. A spray of water doused the Swan Song, and the two stallions heard a chorus of chants, shouts, and giggles. “... … ...what in Verlaxion's uterus was that?”
“Look!” Nick pointed at the beast with a gasp.
“Rainbow!” Twilight Sparkled yelped, flying harmlessly through cascading sprays of water. “The Swan Song is practically clear now!” She winced as she was yanked after Rainbow's wildly darting figure. “You can stop distracting this monster!” She gulped. “Pleeeeeeeeeease stop distracting it!”
“Just a little while longer!” Rainbow's voice cracked. With each heroic twitch of her wing feathers, she darted over and under the serpent's lashing muscles. Her mane and coat were thoroughly soaked with seawater, and yet she continued her desperate zig-zagging. “I gotta figure this freak out!”
“In what way?!?”
“Sinrar said a whirlpool should be in the heart of the Nealend Atoll! Now it's gone! And we have this... this thing!”
“Couldn't you do the thinking later and the escaping now?!”
“Bite your tongue, egghead!” Rainbow kicked off a length of leathery scales and flew backwards, squinting at the monster's beady eye and glistening jaws as it dove underwater again. “Don't you get it?! The atoll... the First Seed... the whirlpool... this bigflank snake thing!” She gnashed her teeth. “They're probably all connected!”
“What makes you say that?!”
“Because most things in my travels usually are! For one stupid reason or another!” Rainbow flapped her wings, gaining some altitude. “Now that you and the other girls are involved, I wanna cut things off at the—”
SPLOOOOOSH! The monster leapt up from directly beneath her, its jaws stretching wide.
“—head!” Rainbow's pupils shrank. Her body became encased in the shadow from the creature's maw. Twilight let loose a shriek.
And then—Schliiink! Th-thunk! A series of barbed harpoons sailed into the beast's throat. A warm spray of blood joined the cascading wall of water, and Rainbow could hear the mighty bass rumble of the serpent's pained voice as its body dove underneath again.
“Huh?” Rainbow exhaled.
“Rainbow, look!” Twilight pointed.
Rainbow twirled in time to see four shapes darting towards the tempestuous scene. There were four expertly carved wooden canoes—tiny vessels, more like kayaks, with heavy knife-edged prows. Two ponies crewed each raft, with a pegasus at the rear and a unicorn or an earth pony at the very front. The pegasi buzzed their wings, providing ridiculously fast thrust, while the front ponies grappled serrated spears that glinted in the bright sun. There was something uniformly striking about each equine, Rainbow noticed. Their manes and tails were buzzed clean, their bodies were adorned with ringlets of flowers and palm fronds... and they were wickedly grinning with wild abandon.
“Woooohoooo!”
“Haaaaaaaa!”
“Hah! Hah! Hah!”
The scaled shadow shifted beneath the waves, drawn in by the Nealenders' wakes.
“Wooo! He's coming about, Kaji!” hollered a spearpony on one vessel. “Fat and beachwise!”
“Got it!” The pegasus behind him pivoted, blurred his wings, and brought the canoe's side about. “Go get 'em, Sora!”
SPLOOOSH! The beast's head cleared the water, all teeth and hissing.
“Guys!” Rainbow shrieked. “Look out—”
“RAAAAAAUGH!” The earth pony in front of Kaji leapt off the prow, wielding a spear in each hoof. While the other equines whooped and chanted, he flew his petite body at the rippling wall of scales. One spear broke the flesh, spilling blood, but the other one shattered. As a result, his body bounced off, sailing awkwardly into the waves. “Dammit—” Splasssh!
Rainbow gawked as the other ponies casually evaded the lashing serpent. Laughter filled the air as they circled the scene. One canoe even skirted by the floundering earth pony.
“Nice one, Sora!” A pegasus mare stuck her tongue out, her mane-less skull dribbling with sea water. “You should go back to catching toucans in the palms!”
“Rrrrrgh!” Sora treaded water, snarling. “Come and pick me up, Kaji!”
“One second, brother!” The pegasus in question jerked his boat to the right, just in time to avoid—SPLAAASSH!—a vicious tailswipe from the angry beast.
“Hooooo!” Another earth pony hollered, perched on his canoe's prow as he aimed a spear. “He's angry today! Verlaxion give us speed!”
“Screw speed!” Sora spat, finally climbing onto his companion's canoe. “Give us more spears!”
“Hah!”
“Ha ha ha ha—Whoah!”
The serpent's teeth ripped through the waters once more, forcing the four vessels to split up.
“He's giving us his gills!” Shouted a unicorn on the prow of another ship. He squinted, aiming his spear at the glistening flesh. “Steady it, Flare!”
“No using magic, Silver!”
“Grrnnngh...” The unicorn tossed his neck, spinning a necklace of seashells in anger. “At this rate, I'll never draw blood! Hnnngh!” He grunted over the sound of his laughing companions.
The spear deflected off a spine. Clank! As the serpent swam past, its muscles rippled, causing a huge swell.
“Water rises!” Flare shouted, compensating with her wings.
“Brace the wood!” Silver hissed, clutching the prow.
All four groups surfed the waves as they rolled in opposite direction. They cheered and whistled as they cleared it. As the waters dipped, Rainbow could spot Silver's spear floating several feet away.
“Hmmmm...” Rainbow flicked her tail and dove.
“Rainbow, what are you—?” Twilight jerked after her. “Yaaaa!”
Rainbow flew down, dodged a spray of water, then gripped the spear in her muzzle.
“What, ho!” Kaji looked up while banking around another swell. “An outsider!”
“Of course, brother!” Sora shouted, gripping the canoe. “Didn't you see her?”
“I see her now! Let's see what comes of it?”
Rainbow flew high, squinting down at the churning waters. As the foam settled, she saw a large black shape materializing beneath the four pairs of Nealenders. Before Twilight could protest, she dove straight down, angling her wings for the swiftest speed. She spat the spear out and caught it in the crook of her hooves.
Just then, the beast lunged up out of the water, its jaws aiming towards the pegasus and the sky beyond.
Rainbow twirled past its maw, kicked off the scales, then threw the spear while falling backwards. “Yeeeeugh!”
The weapon sunk in beneath a spike, embedding deep and drawing a spurt of blood.
“Gaah!” Rainbow flinched from the spray, then landed on a canoe beneath her. “Ooof!”
“Hah!” Silver laughed, collapsing beneath her. He grinned past his pain. “A fine hit, outsider!”
“Verlaxion certainly smiles upon you,” Flare said with a cheekish grin.
“You ponies...” Rainbow wheezed. “...are friggin' crazy.” She slicked her wet mane back with a grin. “I dig it!”
“Hah! 'Dig!'” Kaji hollered from across the waves. “A land walker for sure!”
“The waves are silent!” Sora exclaimed as his and Kaji's raft came about. All four groups settled limply in the water. “Does the coward hide?”
“Maybe I actually hurt it hard enough,” Rainbow stammered.
“No, it's sporting us...” Silver muttered. “Just as we sported it.”
“What does that mean?” Rainbow said.
“Uhhhhhhh...” Twilight lifted up from beneath the waves. “...Rainbow?”
“Huh?” Rainbow looked west. Just then, a gigantic tail lifted, raised fifty feet in the air, then came down with the force of a collapsing mountain. A veritable tsunami formed, sending an enormous swell in the four's direction.
“Wave! Wave!”
“Wooooohooo! Brace!”
The four angled towards the swell, the pegasi beating their wings mightily. Rainbow gripped the boat she was on tightly, grimacing at the last second. However, with expert precision, the Nealenders easily broke over the crest of the wave, settling harmlessly on the other side. While they whooped and cheered, a few looked back at the Atoll.
“Ohhhh ho ho ho...” Flare giggled. “That will bring the crabs out for sure!”
“What will?” Rainbow turned to look... and her muzzle paled. The tsunami had become choppy east of them, surging violently towards the islands... and the Swan Song in between. Before her eyes, the trimaran got caught up in the massive swell. The two stallions on board yelped, clinging to the mast as the raft was carried swiftly to shore. “Awwwwwww Luna Poop.”
These guys are insane.
And probably full of mares for Nick to drool over.
Not sure whether the ponies or the serpent will kill him first.
Edit: Ha ha
I like these guys.
Thirty crunches, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Well, that was awesome. I didn't think from the previous chapter that it would be that big, but goddamn is it huge...kinda reminds me of a Shadow of the Colossus monster.
I like these ponies already.
Ponies that get hyped and excited about dangerous activities? Rainbow should feel right at home. Still no clear idea of what this thing is, other than being a massive sea serpent, but it seems like our islanders are familiar with it (or its kind).
Well, these guys are already off to a good start. Nothin like some ass kickin' allies. I'm half tempted to say that these are some of the 'hippies' that Sinrar said populated these islands...but they died of dysentery, didn't they? or was that a different cluster of islands?
Also: getting Durandana vibes. But I doubt we'll have two super happy-go-lucky pegasus cultures.
For the first time ever, I get to comment before 7 or 8 hours after the chapter came out.
I like them. They're clever critters!
Though with 'Sora' for a second I thought there was going to be some Kingdom Hearts references and was about to deadpan at this whole thing.
Kajisora, welcome to the club!
Wait, so is the sea monster just playing with them?
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
5940738 Welcome to the Jury! Or Lunar Ninth! Or Noble Remnants! Or something or other. It's great to finally have you here.
So instead of a pegasus sex crater, we'll have a crazy pony atoll? Eh, not quite the same ring.
5940738 They aren't all Pegasi though.
5940793
I like Noble Remnants, though to me it seems that the whole crew has changed.
I doubt that the Swan Song will stick around long enough to build a name for the team, judging by the damage... Though Nick doesn't look too keen to give up on it, judging by his defensive behaviour? Although, he was overeager to jump ship a few chapters back.
Meh. I need to see more of these islanders.
Now what's up with that?
I guess this is my twenty-something chapter late, attention-seeking 'I've caught up' post.
5940846 That's why I like Lunar Ninth the most. It's an anagram of Innanhlutr (the actual Norse form of the words in the title because Ynanhluutr has no good anagrams) and I think it sounds pretty cool.
5940837 doesn't mean it cant be a crazy sex island tho
5940854 heh, whatever you want to call it, welcome.
5940848
The pegasi weren't really flying either, were they? Just using their wings to power the boat... does that count as using powers? As crazy islanders, doting on Verlaxion and surviving on what is given, they may not want to use their natural abilities, or some such.
Though, if so, I would think that they would not like Rainbow's flying so much. Maybe they are just anti-magic?
Or, something happened to his alicorn and they don't want him to get hurt, meh, boring explanations.
Cool, new people!
Man, that thing is ugly as Sin.
5940855
It does sound pretty...
..Awesome!
But what does it mean5940875 Good questions. I think it unlikely this was an insignificant detail. Something is going on around there to make Twilight's horn miserable. Maybe they're connected. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
And I wouldn't worry too much about the Swan Song. I'm sure the islanders can repair her.
And so Nick finds his island of mares.
Plot twist: bald chicks are a severe turn off for him.
5940823
But they both have pegasi.
Hm, it just got me thinking. Where did the pegasi from the other side of the Choke came from?
5940854 Welcome! That's three people in two days.
5940884 Nothing at all. Neither did Noble Jury, actually. It just so happened that later the name of the Noble Jury fit its discovered purpose rather well.
5940703 Ya' know if he really does all these exercises by the time we finish this journey he will probably look something like this... sironaconsulting.com/images/old/6a00d8341c761a53ef0153928c6184970b-pi.png
Then his muscles will be too large to let him type...Why would you do this to our beloved story spinner?
Very true.
5940897 Somehow Nick strikes me as a guy that doesn't have many turn offs
5940854 this is my mandatory "grats on catching up reply
5940903 I've been wondering that for a while. My inner Twilight demands the satisfaction of looking through their histories to find an answer.
Danger is only scary when you're not used to it, once you get used to it, it becomes exciting.
no manes and tails? Probably for increased hydrodynamics when they go spear fishing.
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
I want them to take her to their leader.
I'm glad I'm not the only one getting Durandana vibes from these ponies. Though it appears that the wild recreational nookie has been replaced with... what? Consensual fish-injuring? The world's most violent symbiosis? I'm curious to see how our rag-tag little band will be received by these adoragruesome cueballs.
5940903 Austraeoh's that made it, but couldn't figure out how to get to the other side. I dunno. Mutant dna.
I like these new guys. They have spirit!
They've obviously done this before. So who won today?
5940776
Thanks.
Nice to know I'm deemed crazy enough to hunt giant waterwyrms in a canoe.
*ahem*
Wakka wakka
Thats very intresting, these guys are more than used to sparring with the giant sea serpent. I wonder if they discovered the empty islands a couple hundred years ago, or every 600 years or so there is a massive wave that kills everything off except a couple of lucky deep sea boats that get in a week later or so?
Not happy if Cecil gets Shish Kebabd?
I wonder if they hunt these things... or they've just been hunting this one for a very, very long time.
5940866 If it is than we are going to lose Nick.
5941173 He'd have the nicest departure from the group.
Interesting.
Sorry, just a bit of nostalgia.
Anyway, good chapter!
I can't wait to find out more about these islanders.
I very much like this game. I'm guessing it is a game for both sides.
Or the atollanders are hunting.
Well, I guess we can say they certainly aren't another Pegasus Sex Crater. I'm liking this group of pegasi already.
Man... I haven't played that game in a long time.
5940878
Heh.
Running away, like a true Frenchpony.
5940848
Perhaps some sort of trial or coming-of-age ceremony? Might explain the bald heads.
Speaking of bald, suddenly everypony is a Mintian Monk.
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!